ill  w-iiiini&i 

•H 


UNC  AS 


AND 


MIANTONOMOH. 


UNCAS 


AND 


MIANTONOMOH; 


mSTORICAL   DISCOURSE, 


DELIVERED 

AT  NORWICH,   (CONN.,)  ON  THE   FOURTH  DAY  OF  JULY,  1842,  ON  THE 
OCCASION  OF  THE  ERECTION  OF  A  MONUMENT 
TO   THE   MEMORY   OF 

UNCAS, 

THE  WHITE  MAN'S  FRIEND,  AND  FIRST  CHIEF  OF  THE  MOHEGANS. 


BY  WILLIAM  L.  STONE, 

Author  of  the  "  Life  of  Brant,"  "  Life  and  Times  of  Red  Jacket,"  &c.  &c. 


NEW  YORK: 

PUBLISHED   BY  DAYTON   &    NEWMAN. 
199   Broadwuy.'  - 

1842. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1842,  by 
DAYTON  AND  NEWMAN, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for 
the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


.    W.  BENEDICT,  PRINT. 


TO 
THE    LADIES    OF  THE    CITY   OF   NORWICH, 

THIS    DISCOU  RSE    IS 

RESPECTFULLY  INSCRIBED 

BY   THEIR  FRIEND, 

THE   AUTH  OR. 


M193682 


PREFACE. 


THE  Indian  name  of  UNCAS  ig  far  more  familiar  to  the 
readers  of  fiction,  than  to  those  of  veritable  history,  or 
even  to  the  student  of  the  early  chronicles  of  New 
England.  Its  original  possessor,  so  far  as  history  in 
forms  us,  was  the  bold  and  warlike  chief  of  a  powerful 
community  of  Indians,  occupying  a  large  portion  of  the 
territory  now  forming  the  State  of  Connecticut,  when 
the  Pilgrims  began  to  plant  themselves  in  that  region. 
He  was  the  white  man's  friend,  at  a  period  when  the 
friendship  even  of  savage  royalty  was  most  welcome. 
To  his  fidelity  the  early  planters  of  Connecticut  were 
brought  under  obligations  that  have  been  but  ill-requited 
to  his  house  and  his  race. 

For  upward  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  years,  his  remains 
have  been  reposing  in  what  has  been  called  "  the  royal 
burying-ground"  of  the  Mohegans,  situated  upon  the 
western  margin  of  the  plain  upon  which  stands  the  old 
town  of  Norwich.  The  locality  of  this  burying-ground, 
which  was  appropriated  exclusively  to  the  Uncas  family 
by  the  Indians,  and  retained  for  that  purpose  in  subse 
quent  sales  of  their  territory,  is  romantic  and  beautiful ; 
evincing  both  the  taste  and  sentiment  of  those  who  se- 


V1H  PREFACE. 

ected  and  consecrated  it  for  that  object.  It  overlooks, 
at  an  elevation  of  some  two  hundred  feet,  the  sweet  basin 
of  the  Yantic  river,  at  the  distance  of  a  mile,  perhaps, 
above  the  junction  of  that  stream  with  the  Shetucket, 
and  but  a  short  distance  from  the  falls  of  the  former. 

A  grove  of  wild  forest  trees,  by  its  deep  foliage,  im 
parts  a  subdued  and  pensive  mellowness  to  the  light,  and 
a  deep  ravine  descending  to  the  river  discloses  the  path 
by  which  the  Mohegans,  after  paddling  their  canoes 
across  the  bright  waters  of  the  bay,  in  solemn  state  as 
cended  with  their  dead  to  the  place  of  sepulture.  The 
falls  or  cataract  just  referred  to,  being  a  remarkably  wild 
and  curious  conformation  of  rocks,  through  a  narrow 
chasm  of  which  the  stream  rushes  in  a  succession  of 
impetuous  leaps, — now  falling  in  an  unbroken  torrent, 
and  now  dashing  into  foam  in  its  descent  over  fragments 
of  pointed  rocks, — adds  essentially  to  the  interest  of  the 
landscape.  In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  falls  the 
scenery  is  sublime  ;  and  when  the  stream  is  swollen  by 
dissolving  snows  or  protracted  rains,  the  sound  of  its 
waters  is  heard  in  the  burying-ground  like  the  subdued 
bass  of  the  ocean. 

Such  is  a  description,  though  brief  and  inadequate,  of 
the  royal  burying-ground  of  the  house  of  Uncas.  It  has 
been  safely  guarded  from  the  woodman's  axe,  from  the 
day  when  the  colony  was  first  planted  until  the  present ; 
and  by  none  with  more  watchful  care  than  by  the  late 
possessor  of  the  estate  to  which  it  has  long  been  attached 
— the  Hon.  CALVIN  GODDAED. 

In  view  of  the  character  of  Uncas,  and  the  important 
services  which  he  rendered  to  the  first  generation  of  the 
planters  of  Norwich,  the  idea  has  long  been  entertained 


PREFACE.  IX 

of  marking  the  romantic  spot  in  which  he  sleeps,  by  a 
monument  that  should  perpetuate  his  name.  The  first 
step  toward  the  accomplishment  of  the  object  was  taken 
in  the  summer  of  1833,  during  a  visit  to  Norwich  by 
General  Andrew  Jackson,  then  President  of  the  United 
States,  who  assisted  in  laying  a  corner  stone.  On  that 
occasion  an  address  was  pronounced  extemporaneously 
by  General  Cass,  Secretary  at  War.  There  being,  how 
ever,  no  funds  provided  for  the  immediate  prosecution  of 
the  work,  nothing  farther  was  done  until  the  autumn  of 
the  year  1840,  when  the  ladies  of  Norwich,  with  a  spirit 
of  generous  patriotism  characteristic  of  the  sex,  took  the 
matter  in  hand,  raised  the  necessary  funds,  and,  on  the 
4th  day  of  July,  1842,  caused  a  granite  obelisk,  of  re- 
-spectable  height  and  proportions,  to  be  reared  upon  the 
chieftain's  grave,  bearing  the  simple  inscription,  in 
relief,— UNCAS. 

In  anticipation  of  the  ceremony  of  raising  this  mcau- 
ment,  the  ladies  engaged  in  the  undertaking  did  me  the 
honor  to  request  the  delivery  of  a  discourse  upon  the 
occasion.  The  desire  of  the  ladies  was  first  made  known 
to  me  by  Judge  Goddard — clarum  et  venerabile  nomen  ! — 
but  little  did  I  imagine,  when  acceding  to  the  request, 
that  my  excellent  friend  would  himself  be  sleeping  in 
kindred  dust  with  Uncas,  before  the  execution  of  my 
task! 

In  bringing  these  remarks  to  a  close,  it  is  proper  to 
observe  that  the  author  had  no  idea,  when  he  accepted 
the  appointment,  that  the  essay  he  might  attempt  would 
extend  to  the  dimensions  even  of  a  pocket  volume.  At 
most,  he  meditated  nothing  farther  than  a  historical 
sketch  of  half  or  three  quarters  of  an  hour.  But,  OR 


X  PREFACE. 

entering  upon  the  preliminary  work  of  research,  he  soon 
discovered  that  he  was  exploring  a  mine  rich  both  in 
historical  and  biographical  incident,  and  the  labor  was 
pursued  as  a  pleasant  relaxation  from  the  business  hours 
of  an  arduous  profession,  until  the  following  sheets  were 
written. 

Exclusive  of  the  notes  and  appendix,  the  greater  por 
tion  of  the  discourse  was  delivered  at  the  monument,  at 
the  time  designated,  to  a  large  concourse  of  people. 
Many  of  those  who  heard  it  have  urged  its  publication  ; 
and  there  may,  perhaps,  be  others  desirous  of  reviewing 
their  studies  of  that  era  of  the  early  history  of  New 
England  presented  in  the  following  pages,  as  well  as  of 
becoming  acquainted  with  the  life  and  character  of  the 
real  Uncas. 

W.  L.  S. 

New  York,  September,  1842. 


DISCOURSE. 


"WHAT  song  the  Sirens  sang,  or  what 
name  Achilles  assumed  when  he  hid  himself 
among  women,  though  puzzling  questions, 
are  not  beyond  all  conjecture.  What  time 
the  persons  of  these  ossuaries  entered  the  fa 
mous  nations  of  the  dead,  and  slept  with 
princes  and  counsellors,  might  admit  a  wTide 
solution.  But  who  were  the  proprietors  of 
these  bones,  or  what  bodies  these  ashes  made 
up,  were  a  question  above  antiquarism, — not 
to  be  resolved  by  man,  nor  easily,  perhaps,  by 
spirits."  Thus  discoursed  Sir  Thomas  Browne, 
who  has  been  designated  "the  laureate  of  the 
King  of  Terrors,"  in  the  sublime  and  fearful 
essay  upon  "  Hydriotaphia,  or  Urn  Burial," 
which  he  was  inspired  to  write  by  the  disco 
very  of  the  celebrated  Urns,  "  in  a  field  of 
Old  Walsingham,"  more  than  two  hundred 
years  ago.  Fortunately  for  the  day  and  the 
occasion,  no  such  mystery  hangs  over  the 


OF  U.NCA&, 


bones  so  quietly  reposing  in  yonder  humble 
chambers  of  the  house  of  ages.  That  ro 
mantic  spot  is  consecrated  ground.  We  may 
there  tread  upon  the  dust  of  kings.  How 
long  was  their  line  we  cannot  tell,  or  what 
were  their  earlier  deeds,  or  their  triumphs. 
Farther  back  than  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  even  the  Muse  of  History  has  no  scroll 
to  unroll.  Beyond  that  land-mark  of  time, 
America  herself  "  was  one  great  antiquity," 
buried  in  the  darkness  of  more  than  five  thou 
sand  years. 

I  have  said  that  we  were  treading  upon  the 
ashes  of  kings.  True  indeed  it  is,  that  the 
royal  title  was  unknown  in  their  own  imper 
fect  nomenclature.  But  in  their  rank,  their 
order  of  descent,  the  character  of  the  office, 
and  the  manner  of  exercising  their  power, 
they  were  SOVEREIGNS  ;  and  their  chief  Sa 
chems,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  KINGS. 
And  thus  they  were  styled  by  the  writers 
nearest  their  own  times.  Rude  kings  they 
were,  it  is  true, — kings  who  revelled  not  in 
voluptuousness,  nor  wasted  their  time  amidst 
the  delights  of  the  harem,  like  a  Moslem 
Prince;  nor  degraded  their  manhood  by  ply- 


LIFE  OF  UNCAS.  1  3 

ing  the  bobbin,  or  wielding  the  distaff,  like 
Sardanapalus.  Nor  yet.  were  they  of  those 
who  sought  immortality  by  rearing  cities,  and 
palaces,  and  massive  walls,  and  solemn  tem 
ples,  like  those  of  Thebes,  and  Babylon,  and 
Alexandria.  "  They  affected  not  the  graves 
of  giants,  under  hilly  and  heavy  coverings," 
nor  yet  sought  to  mark  the  age  of  their  glory 
by  the  stupendous  pyramid,  or  the  costly  mau 
soleum.  But  of  a  far  different  race  were  the 
sons  of  the  forests,  where  now  stand  the 
bright  cities  and  villages  of  New  England. 
They  were  not  of  the  common  order  of  men, 
but  a  race,  proud  and  haughty, — whose  per 
sons  and  characteristics  were  of  mingled 
grandeur  and  gloom, — and  who,  like  the  Fai 
ries  and  Fates  of  the  Greek  mythology,  seem 
ed  born  amid  the  convulsion  of  the  elements, 
of  cloud  and  storm.  And  yet,  their  lives  of 
turbulence  ended,  they  were  content  that 
their  bones  should  lie  soft  beneath  the  sod,  in 
calm  seclusion  upon  the  sweet  bank  of  their 
own  Yantic,  as  though  lulled  to  repose  by  the 
ceaseless  music  of  the  neighboring  waterfall.* 

*  The  Falls  of  the  Yantic,  briefly  described  in  the 
Preface,  are  so  near  that  when  the  flood  is  high3  the 
sound  can  be  distinctly  heard  from  the  Monument. 
2 


14*  LIFE   OF   UNCAS. 

To  honor  the  memory  of  one  of  these  we 
have  this  day  assembled.  "  The  custom  of 
showing  respect  to  the  dead  by  funeral  so 
lemnities  and  sepulchral  honors,  is  the  growth 
of  no  particular  country,  confined  to  no  age  : 
it  has  prevailed  as  far  as  the  human  race  ex 
tended,  and  may  be  traced  through  every  suc 
ceeding  period  of  the  history  of  man.  If  it 
had  its  origin  in  the  simplicity  and  rudeness 
of  primitive  times,  it  is  dignified  in  its  matu 
rity  by  the  practice  of  the  most  polished  na 
tions.  Nor  has  it  been  admitted  only  as  an 
inoffensive  relic  of  ancient  superstition ;  but 
has  long  been  avowedly  sanctioned  by  the 
legislative  power,  and  adopted  as  the  most 
suitable  medium  for  the  expression  of  public 
gratitude."*  But  the  bestowment  of  such 
honors  to  the  departed, — to  those  who  have 
been  long  retired  "  beyond  the  reach  of  oblo 
quy  or  applause" — has  been  regarded,  I  know, 
"  as  an  idle  pageantry,  unworthy  of  a  culti 
vated  age,  and  suited  only  to  the  childish  sen 
sibilities  of  uncivilized  life,"  even  by  those 
who  would  not  object  to  assigning  like  honors 
to  the  recently  dead.  The  objection  is  nei- 

*  Oxford  Prize  Essays— 1st  Essay,  vol.  iii. 


LIFE  OF  UNO  AS.  15 

ther  sound  nor  philosophical.  On  the  con 
trary,  the  rearing  of  monuments,  in  honor  of 
the  illustrious  dead  of  years  long  past,  is  hal 
lowed  by  the  example  of  all  civilized  nations 
in  all  antecedent  time,  and  justified  by  every 
impulse  of  patriotism,  as  it  is  also  sanc 
tioned  by  the  yet  holier  feelings  of  the  human 
breast.  True,  indeed,  it  may  be  asked,  as  was 
long  ago  demanded  by  Sir  Thomas  Browne, 
"  Who  cares  to  submit  like  Hippocrates's  pa 
tients,  or  Achilles'  horses  in  Homer,  under 
naked  nominations,  without  deserts,  or  noble 
acts,  which  are  the  balsam  of  our  memories, 
and  the  soul  of  our  subsistences  ?"  ^  et  it  may 
be  asked  in  reply,  Who  so  poor  in  spirit  as  not 
to  desire  to  live  in  the  memory  of  his  friends, 
if  not  of  his  country,  after  he  shall  have 
"shuffled  off  this  mortal  coil?"  And  who, 
on  the  bed  of  death,  that  does  not  dwell  with 
melancholy  pleasure  upon  the  thought  that  he 
may  not  only  be  wept  but  honored  by  the 
sympathising  friends  whom  he  may  leave  be 
hind  ?  At  the  same  time,  in  the  language  of 
my  favorite  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  notwith 
standing  this  universal  desire  for  after-remem 
brance,  "  it  is  vain  that  individuals  hope  for 


16  LIFE    OF    UNCAS. 

immortality,  or  any  patent  from  oblivion, 
in  preservations  below  the  moon.  The  great 
er  part  must  be  content  to  be  as  though  they 
had  not  been,  to  be  found  in  the  register  of 
God,  not  in  the  record  of  man.  Twenty-se 
ven  names  make  up  the  story  of  the  world 
before  the  flood,  and  the  recorded  names  eve 
since  contain  not  one  living  century."  That 
number,  however,  has  been  largely  increased 
since  the  noble  treatise  thus  again  quoted  was 
•written  ;  and  among  the  names  which  a  just 
American  historian  cannot  sfttfer  to  be  lost,  is 
that  of  UNCAS.*  And  although  with  the  race 
to  which  he*-  belonged  it  is  now  too  late  to 

*  There  is  often  a  difficulty  in  fixing  the  orthography 
of  Indian  names.  This  difficulty  arises  from  several  caus 
es.  The  Indian  Sachems  were  in  the  habit  of  chang 
ing  their  names,  at  their  dances  and  festivals,  on  special 
occasions.  Having  no  written  language  themselves, 
different  writers  respecting  them,  often  wrote  their 
names  differently,  according  to  the  sounds  they  caught- 
Again  the  same  writers,  from  carelessness,  not  unfre- 
quently  designated  the  same  chiefs  differently  at  differ 
ent  times.  Hence  the  name  of  Uncas  has  been  writ 
ten  variously  as  follows  : — Okase,  Onkos,  Onkus,  Oko- 
ko,  Vncas,  Unkuss,  Unkowa,  Poquiam,  Unquase,  Unkas, 
UNCAS.  I  have  chosen  the  latter  form,  as  predomi 
nating  in  history. 


LIFE  OF  UNCAS.  17 

excite  the  emulation  either  of  his  courage  or 
his  fidelity,  by  the  shaft  of  granite  \ve  are 
about  to  rear;  yet  ere  it  crumbles  away  be 
neath  the  hand  of  that  fell  destroyer  which 
"  makes  pyramids  pillars  of  snow,  and  all 
that's  past  a  moment,"  the  youth  of  many 
generations,  even  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race, 
may  find  it  not  unprofitable  to  spend  an  oc 
casional  hour  in  contemplating  those  high 
qualities  which  prompted  their  mothers  to 
provide  this  monument  in  honor  of  a  savage 
chieftain  whose  name  has  thus  been  rescued 
from  "  the  iniquity  of  oblivion." 

How  little  thought  the  poor  Indian,  who, 
in  the  singleness  of  his  heart,  and  the  innate 
benevolence  of  his  nature,  met  the  famishing 
Pilgrims  at  Plymouth,  with  the  proffer  of  an  ear 
of  corn — the  greatest  luxury  of  his  lodge — 
of  the  mighty  influence  which  the  presence 
of  the  shivering  stranger  was  to  exert  upon 
the  destiny  of  his  own  proud  race  1  How 
little,  in  the  spring  of  1621,  when  Samoset 
and  Squanto,  or  Ti-squantum,  in  the  broken 
dialect  which  they  had  previously  acquired 
from  some  straggling  mariners  who  had  been 
shipwrecked  upon  the  coast  while  engaged  in 


18  LIFE   OF    UNCAS. 

fishing,  saluted  a  small  party  of  the  enfeebled 
planters  with  the  cheering  words, — "Wel 
come,  Englishmen  !" — how  little,  I  repeat,  did 
those  children  of  the  forest  suppose  that  the 
years  were  drawing  nigh,  when  the  multitu 
dinous  nations  of  their  own  people  were  to 
disappear  before  the  descendants  of  that  little 
group,  wasted  by  famine  and  reduced  to  a 
handful  by  pestilence,  which  stood  like  a 
company  of  living  skeletons  before  them ; 
and  that  the  entire  extirpation  of  their  race, 
would  so  shortly  afford  "  a  subject  of  affect 
ing  contemplation  to  the  man  of  feeling,  and 
of  curious  investigation  to  the  philosopher  ?" 
But  such  has  been  the  design  of  an  all- wise 
Providence — a  design  which  the  strong  faith 
of  the  Puritans  enabled  them  to  foresee. 
Looking  upon  themselves  as  the  peculiar  peo 
ple, — the  chosen  of  God, — driven  as  it  were 
from  another  Egypt — the  new  world  rose  be 
fore  them  as  the  land  of  promise,  to  which 
the  blazing  star  that  illumined  the  western 
sky  in  the  year  1619  was  sent  to  guide 
them,  like  another  pillar  of  fire.*  The 

*  "  The  disappearing  of  the  blazing  star  in  the  west, 
in  the  year  1619,  the  observation  of  which  toward  the 


LIFE  OF  UJNCAS.  19 

eye  of  faith  also  enabled  them  to  discover  oth 
er  sources  of  encouragement,  after  their  land 
ing,  from  what  they  esteemed  the  particu 
lar  interpositions  of  Providence  in  their  behalf. 
Their  original  destination  had  been  for  the 
shores  of  the  Hudson  River,  in  the  interior  of 
what  was  then  an  infant  colony  of  the  Dutch. 
Their  landing  at  Plymouth  was  caused  by 
accident,  and  a  stress  of  weather.*  Few, 

west  made  Mr.  Brigges,  that  famous  mathematician, 
conclude  that  some  notable  event  was  like  to  ensue, 
betokening  the  death  of  the  natives  in  those  parts." — 
Hubbard.  The  Brigges  here  referred  to  was  probably 
the  Savilian  professor  at  Oxford,  in  1619 — the  author  of 
many  treatises  upon  mathematical  subjects,  and  also  of 
the  Arithmetica  Logarithmetica. 

*  Cotton  Mather  attributes  the  landing  at  Plymouth 
instead  of  on  the  shores  of  the  Hudson,  to  design  on  the 
part  of  the  Hollanders.  "  Some  of  the  neighbors  [of  the 
Puritans]  in  Holland,  having  a  mind  themselves  to  set 
tle  a  plantation  there,  secretly  and  sinfully  contracted 
with  the  master  of  the  ship  employed  to  transport  the 
English  exiles,  by  taking  a  more  northerly  course  to  put 
a  trick  upon  them.  5Twas  in  pursuance  of  this  plot  that 
not  only  the  goods,  but  also  the  lives  of  all  on  board 
were  hazarded  by  the  ship's  falling  among  the  shoals 
of  Cape  Cod,  where  they  were  so  dangerously  entangled 
among  the  breakers,  thus  late  in  the  year,  that  the 
company  broke  off  their  intentions  of  going  any  fur 
ther." — Magnalia  Christi  •Americana. 


20  LIFE    OF    UNCAS. 

feeble,  and  destitute  as  they  were  for  many 
months  after  their  landing,  they  could  but  ill 
have  sustained  themselves  against  the  fierce 
and  warlike  Iroquois,  had  they  attempted  a 
plantation  in  their  vicinity ;  whereas  Provi 
dence  had  prepared  for  their  reception  in  New 
England,  by  sweeping  off  the  nations  in  the 
region  round  about  their  landing  place  by  a 
strange  mortality,  unknown  among  them  until 
the  previous  year.  So  great  had  been  the 
loss  of  the  Indians  by  the  pestilence,  that  not 
one  in  ten  of  their  number  had  survived — not 
enough  even  to  bury  their  dead,  the  bones  of 
whom  were  bleaching  upon  the  ground  when 
the  pilgrims  landed.*  This  fatal  malady  was 
regarded  as  a  special  infliction  of  divine  ven 
geance  upon  the  heathen  ;  and  connecting  it 

*  Hubbard.  "  The  Indians  in  these  parts  had  newly, 
even  about  a  year  before,  been  visited  by  such  a  prodi 
gious  pestilence,  as  carried  away,  not  a  tenth,  but  nine 
parts  out  of  ten,  (yea,  'tis  said,  nineteen  of  twenty, 
among  them :  so  that  the  woods  were  almost  cleared  of 
those  pernicious  creatures,  to  make  room  for  a  better 
growth.35 — Magnolia  Christi  Americana.  "  This  pes 
tilence  was  accompanied  or  preceded  by  a  comet,  which 
the  Indians  superstitiously  considered  as  the  cause  of 
the  disease." — Potter's  Narragansetts. 


LIFE  OF  UN  CAS.  21 

•with  various  other  providences,  the  Pilgrims 
regarded  it  as  a  second  fulfilment  of  God's 
promise  to  the  people  of  Israel,  when  direct 
ing  their  course  through  the  wilderness  to 
ward  the  land  of  Canaan,  in  which  "  he  en 
gaged  to  them  concerning  the  Canaanite  and 
the  Hittite,  that  he  would  by  little  and  little 
drive  them  out  from  before  his  people,  till 
they  were  increased  and  did  inherit  the  land." 
There  was  yet  another  passage  in  the  history 
of  the  ancient  chosen,  affording  strong  Scrip 
tural  encouragement  to  the  modern.  Like 
the  King  of  Moab,  on  the  approach  of  the 
children  of  Israel  to  his  borders,  the  Indians 
took  counsel  with  Balaam  in  regard  to  the 
Pilgrims,  and  with  similar  results.  In  other 
words,  before  the  neighboring  Indians  deter 
mined  to  cultivate  the  relations  of  peace  with 
the  strangers,  they  held  a  pow-wow  in  a  dis 
mal  swamp,  which  was  continued  several  days 
without  intermission.  All  the  great  conjurors 
and  medicine-men  were  assembled  on  the  oc 
casion,  and  practised  their  incantations  against 
the  English  to  the  utmost  of  their  skill.  But 
the  conjurors  could  not  succeed  in  arraying 
their  Manitto  against  the  strangers.  Another 


22  LIFE    OF    UNCAS. 

attempt  to  procure  a  curse  upon  them  by  a 
pow-wow  was  made  by  a  noted  Sachem  on 
the  Merrimack,  but  entirely  without  success. 
In  consequence  of  this  failure,  the  Sachem 
charged  his  son  and  successor  "  never  to  quar 
rel  with  the  English,  lest  thereby  they  came 
to  be  destroyed  utterly,  and  rooted  out  of  the 
country."  Accustomed  as  much  to  draw 
their  illustrations  from  the  Scriptures  as  they 
were  to  seek  counsel  therein,  nothing  could 
have  been  more  natural  than  that,  in  regard 
to  the  failures  of  those  pow-wows,  the  pilgrims 
should  apply  to  their  own  case  the  words  of 
the  great  necromancer  of  Midian  ; — "  Surely 
there  is  no  enchantment  against  Jacob,  nor 
divination  against  Israel.'5* 

With  such  principles  as  the  Pilgrims 
brought  with  them — such  perseverance  in 
times  of  difficulty,  and  such  courage  in  the 
hour  of  danger — with  such  minds  to  resolve, 
and  such  arms  to  strike — and  above  all,  with 
such  an  exalted  and  unwavering  religious 
faith  to  sustain  them  in  every  trial — there 
need  be  no  marvel  at  the  degree  of  success 
which  crowned  their  enterprise — and  which 
was  in  all  respects  equal  to  their  fortitude. 

*  Hubbard's  New-England,  p.  60. 


MASSASOIT.  23 

But  the  depopulation  of  the  country  by 
sickness  had  not  extended  to  the  tribes  inha 
biting  the  territories  from  which  were  subse 
quently  formed  the  Colonies  of  Rhode  Island 
and  Connecticut  ;*  and  the  Pokanokets,  Nar- 
ragansetts,  Pequods  and  Mohegans  were  yet 
powerful  in  comparison  with  the  strength  of 
the  colonists,  and  continued  so  for  nearly  half 
a  century  thereafter.  Of  these  the  Pokano 
kets,  a  valiant  nation,  numbering  a  thousand 
warriors,  were  in  the  nearest  proximity  to  the 
infant  colony.  But  their  chief,  Massasoit,  a 
man  of  noble  character  and  bearing,  exerting 
great  influence  over  the  nations,  was  per 
suaded  by  Ti-squantum  to  make  a  visit  to  the 
strangers  in  person.  He  came,  attended  by  a 
party  of  his  friends  and  chiefest  counsellors, 
and  with  open  arms  bade  them  welcome  to 
his  country.  The  authority  of  Massasoit  ex 
tended  from  the  Narragansett  to  Massachu 
setts  Bay,  including  Nantucket,  Martha's 
Vineyard,  and  a  part  of  Cape  Cod.  The  seat  of 

*  "The  pestilence  extended  as  far  west  as  Narragan 
sett  Bay,  and  included  the  Wampanoags  in  its  ravages. 
The  Narragansetts  were  entirely  free  from  this  afflic 
tion.33 — Potter — Rhode  Island  Hist.  Coll.  vol.  iii. 


24  LIFE  OF  UNO  AS. 

his  power  was  at  Sowamset,  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Mon-Top,  or  Mount  Hope,  or  Haup, 
after  the  English  corruption — subsequently 
memorable  as  the  citadel  of  King  Philip. 
Massasoit,  being  not  upon  friendly  terms 
with  Canonicus,  chief  of  the  Narragansetts, 
was  glad  to  strengthen  himself  by  an  alliance 
with  the  strangers ;  and  a  treaty  of  amity, 
offensive  and  defensive,  was  formed  between 
them,  which  was  faithfully  observed  by  him 
self  and  his  people  for  upward  of  half  a  cen 
tury.  Directly  west  of  the  Pokanokets  were 
the  Narragansetts,  also  a  powerful  nation, 
numbering  its  thousand  braves  for  the  war 
path  ;  or,  according  to  some  authorities,  from 
three  to  five  thousand — a  number,  by  the  way, 
altogether  too  large,  unless  the  warriors  of 
minor  and  tributary  chieftains  are  included.* 

*  The  estimates  of  the  early  writers  were  often  very 
wide  of  the  truth  as  to  the  numbers  of  the  Indians. 
Callender,  in  his  Centennial  Discourse,  estimates  the 
Narragansett  warriors,  on  the  authority  of  Roger  Wil 
liams,  at  five  thousand.  Hutchinson  says  they  were 
the  most  numerous  of  all  the  tribes  between  Boston  and 
the  Hudson  River.  Brinley  says  they  numbered  thirty 
thousand.  Hubbard  estimated  them  at  two  thousand  on 
the  breaking  out  of  Philip's  war,  by  which  they  were 
reduced  to  "  but  a  hundred  or  two.??  Roger  Williams 


CANONICUS.  25 

Their  territory  lay  between  the  bay  bearing 
their  name  and  the  Pawcatuck  river,  the  pre 
sent  eastern  boundary  of  Connecticut.  They 
also  held  dominion  over  Aquetnet,*  on 
Rhode  Island,  and  over  a  portion  likewise  of 
Long  Island.  Two  years  after  the  landing 
of  the  Pilgrims,  Canonicus  sent  them  a  chal 
lenge,  consisting  of  a  quiver  of  arrows  tied 
together  with  the  skin  of  a  serpent.  The 
belligerent  message  was  understood,  and  the 
reply  was  equally  significant :  the  snake-skin 
was  returned  to  Canonicus  filled  with  powder 
and  ball.f  But  the  Pokanokets  served  par 
tially  as  a  line  of  defence  to  the  Colonists, 
and  peace  was  preserved. 

Next  westward  of  the  Narragansetts,  occu 
pying  the  territory  between  their  boundary  on 

said — "  In  the  Narragansett  country  a  man  shall  come 
to  many  towns,  some  bigger,  some  lesser  ;  it  may  be  a 
dozen  in  thirty  miles  travel/5 

*  Some  of  the  old  documents  spell  the  name  Aqued- 
neck. 

f  Prince,  in  his  Chronology,  questions  whether  the 
message  was  intended  as  a  challenge,  and  thinks  that 
the  Governor  was  deceived  by  the  messenger  who  bore 
it.  A  more  intimate  knowledge  of  Indian  customs 
would  have  taught  this  venerable  author  better. 
3 


26  LIFE    OF   UNCAS. 

that  side  and  the  Connecticut  river,  were  the 
Pequods  and  Mohegans.  These  tribes  have 
generally  been  considered  by  historians, 
though  erroneously,  as  distinct  peoples.  They 
doubtless  constituted,  originally,  one  and  the 
same  nation,  and  became  divided  only  by 
civil  wars.  At  the  time  when  the  English 
Colonists  commenced  the  planting  of  Con 
necticut,  it  is  true  that  the  seat  of  power  of 
the  Pequods  lay  within  the  territorial  bounda 
ries  of  what  now  form  the  towns  of  New 
London,  Groton,  and  Stonington.*  They 

*  The  laborious  historian  of  Connecticut  attempted 
yet  more  distinctly  to  define  the  Pequod  country  as  fol 
lows  : — «  From  a  large  rock  in  Connecticut  river,  near 
Eight  Mile  Island,  in  the  bounds  of  Lyme,  eastward 
through  Lyme,  New-London  and  Groton  to  Ah-yo-sup- 
suck,  a  pond  in  the  northeastern  part  of  Stonington ;  on 
the  east,  from  this  pond  northward,  to  another  pond 
called  Mah-man-suck ;  thence  to  Egunk-sank-a-poug, 
or  the  Whetstone  hills  j  thence  to  the  Man-hum- 
squeeg,  in  the  Whetstone  country  ;  thence  southwest  a 
few  miles  to  Acquiunk,  the  upper  falls  in  the  Quinebaug 
river.  Thence  the  line  ran  a  little  north  of  west 
through  Pomfret,  Ashford,  Willington  and  Tolland,  to 
Mo-she-nup-suck,  the  notch  in  Bolton  Mountain.  From 
thence  the  line  ran  southerly  through  Bolton,  Hebron 
and  East  Haddam,  to  the  first  mentioned  bounds."  Af_ 
ter  the  subjugation  of  the  Pequods,  however,  the  Mohe- 


THE   PEQUODS.  27 

were  the  most  warlike  and  powerful  of  the 
New  England  Indians.  Their  chief  Sachem, 
Sassacus,  held  dominion  over  many  subordi 
nate  Mohegan  chiefs,  at  the  North,  along  the 
course  of  the  Connecticut  River,  and  over  a 
portion  of  Long  Island.*  The  Nipmuck 
country,  about  Quinebaug,  was  also  held  in 
subjection  by  him.  The  residence  of  the 
chief  was  at  Pequod,  now  New  London.f 
"  Their  principal  fort  was  on  a  beautiful  and 
commanding  eminence  in  the  town  of  Groton, 
a  few  miles  south-easterly  from  Fort  Gris- 
wold.  Sassacus  had  another  fort  near  the 
Mystic,  a  few  miles  farther  to  the  eastward, 
which  took  its  name  from  that  river.J  It 
was  said  that  the  Pequods  could  at  that  day 

gans  claimed  this  entire  territory,  with  the  exception  of 
the  three  first-mentioned  towns  of  Lyme,  New-London 
and  Groton,  as  their  own  country  by  inheritance.  The 
Mohegans  also  claimed  the  Wabbequasset  country  yet 
farther  north,  by  virtue  of  conquest. 

*  According  to  Winthrop,  the  name  of  the  Chief  Sa 
chem  of  the  Pequods,  in  1620,  was  Pekoath,  and  he  had 
at  that  time  four  thousand  bowmen.  Drake,  however, 
insists  that  Pekoath  was  not  the  name  of  a  chief,  but 
a  corruption  of  Pequod.  Sassacus  became  Chief  of  the 
Pequods  about  the  year  1632. 

t  Gookin's  Historical  Collections.         J  Trumbull. 


28  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

raise  four  thousand  warriors.  But  this  esti 
mate  must  likewise  have  been  an  exaggera 
tion,  unless  the  Mohegans  east  of  the  Con 
necticut  river,  and  along  its  valley,  were  all 
included. 

But  the  affinity  between  the  Pequods  and 
Mohegans  was  not  sufficiently  strong  to  pre 
vent  a  disruption.  When  in  1635  or  536,  in 
compliance  with  an  invitation  from  Wahqui- 
macut,  a  Sachem  of  one  of  the  smaller  Mohe- 
gan  tribes  inhabiting  the  valley  of  the  Con 
necticut,  the  colonists  of  Plymouth  com 
menced  their  settlements  at  Mattaneaug, 
which  they  called  Windsor,  the  Mohegans 
and  Pequods  were  engaged  in  civil  strife  \ 
and  it  is  in  connexion  with  this  contest  that 
the  name  of  the  illustrious  UNCAS  first  ap 
pears  as  an  actor  in  the  march  of  history. 
From  the  day  when  the  Pilgrim  fathers  planted 
their  feet  on  the  soil  of  Connecticut,  this  no 
ble  chieftain  became  their  friend,  and  such  he 
remained  until  the  day  of  his  death,  involving 
a  period  of  nearly  half  a  century.  I  have  no 
means  of  ascertaining  the  age  of  Uncas  at 
the  time  of  the  settlement  of  Connecticut; 
but  from  the  length  of  his  subsequent  life,  he 


SASSACUS.  29 

could  not  have  been  an  old  man,  while  his 
antecedent  career  had  been  such  as  to  forbid 
the  idea  of  his  being  very  young.  He  was 
a  Pequod  by  birth,  and  of  the  royal  line  both 
by  his  father  and  mother  ;  and  his  wife  was  a 
daughter  of  Tatoban,  one  of  the  Pequod  Sa 
chems,  and  a  near  relative  of  Sassacus.* 
Thus  descended  and  connected,  Uncas  was 
himself  a  Pequod  Chief,  though  not,  accord 
ing  to  the  old  authors  of  any  considerable 
rank.  Probably  he  was  one  of  the  six  and 
twenty  war-captains  mentioned  by  Trumbull, 
as  being  subordinate  to  Sassacus,  "  The  Pe 
quod  King,"  as  he  is  called  by  many  early 
writers.  But  great  and  terrible  as  was  the 
name  of  this  Chieftain,  before  whose  arms 
the  Narragansetts  alone  of  the  Indians  in  that 
region  had  been  able  to  sustain  themselves, 
he  found  a  greater  than  himself  in  Uncas. 
Some  misunderstanding  arising  between  them, 
Uncas  raised  the  standard  of  revolt ;  but  his 
power  and  influence  not  being  great  at  first, 
his  rebellion  was  crushed,  and  he  was  igno- 
miniously  expelled  his  country  by  the  haugh 
ty  victor.  Retiring  among  the  Mohegan 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  vol.  ix. 

3* 


30  LIFE  OF  UNCAS 

clans  farther  in  the  interior — clans  which  en 
tertained  greater  fear  of  the  power  of  Sassa- 
cus  than  affection  for  his  person, — and  smart 
ing  under  a  sense  of  his  degradation,  if  not 
suffering  from  positive  wTrong, — Uncas  was 
not  long  in  illustrating  his  own  genius,  and 
manifesting  his  power.  It  was  no  difficult 
undertaking  to  foment  disaffection  to  a 
tyrannical  chief  like  Sassacus,  especially 
among  tribes  brought  under  his  sway  by  con 
quest.  This  work  having  been  artfully  ac 
complished,  Uncas  next  had  the  address  to 
combine  various  clans  of  the  Mohegans  in 
a  rebellion  against  the  Pequod  King,  and 
place  himself  at  their  head.  The  conspiracy 
was  successful,  and  resulted  in  the  dis 
memberment  of  the  Pequod  territory, — the 
Pequods  themselves  being  confined  to  the 
narrow  district  upon  the  sea-board,  heretofore 
described,  while  the  Mohegans,  establishing 
their  own  independent  sovereignty,  possessed 
the  residue  of  the  Connecticut  territory  East 
of  the  central  river.  Thus  successful  in  arms, 
the  warriors  whom  Uncas  led  to  independence 
submitted  to  his  sway,  and  the  highest  as 
pirations  of  his  vaulting  ambition  were  re- 


LIFE  OF  UNCAS.  31 

alized,  while  the  imperious  Sassacus  was 
humbled  by  the  loss  of  territory  and  subjects, 
though  not  subdued.  The  glare  of  military 
splendor  is  equally  dazzling  to  civilized  and 
savage  man ;  and  although  the  victor  used 
his  power  with  a  heavy  hand,  he  nevertheless 
had  the  address  to  grasp  the  sovereignty 
over  the  Mohegans  leagued  under  his  stand 
ard,  and  the  ability  to  fix  it  in  his  family.  It 
was  the  closing  struggle  of  this  rebellion  in 
which  the  Pequods  and  Mohegans  were  en 
gaged  on  the  arrival  of  the  first  colonists  in 
Connecticut. 

The  colonization  of  Connecticut,  by  the 
English  Pilgrims,  was  begun,  as  already  men 
tioned,  in  the  year  1635,  at  the  invitation  of 
the  Indians  residing  in  the  river  country  them 
selves.  These  Indians  were  at  that  time  nu 
merous — swarming  not  only  along  the  Con 
necticut,  but  also  through  the  vallies  of  its 
tributaries,  such  as  the  Podunk,  the  Tunxis, 
and  other  considerable  intersecting  streams. 
The  Podunks  resided  upon  the  lands  now 
comprised  in  the  town  of  East  Hartford.  At 
Mattehesick,  now  Middletown,  was  the  pow 
erful  Sachemdom  of  Sowheag.  The  clans  in 
the  territory  now  covered  by  the  towns  of 


32  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

East  Haddam,  Chatham,  Wethersfield,  East 
Hartford,  Windsor,  and  Suffield,  were  nume 
rous  and  strong.  Below  the  Sowheags  were 
the  Mackmoodus  Indians,  great  in  their  pow 
wows  and  famous  for  their  worhip  of  evil  spi 
rits.*  In  the  territory' now  composing  the  town 
of  Lyme,  resided  the  West  Nahantics,f  who 
were  confederates  of  the  Pequods.  It  is  be 
lieved  that  the  Indians  of  the  river  country 
numbered  from  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand 
bow-men  upon  the  war-path.  In  Windsor, 
for  example,  forty  years  after  the  settlement 
by  the  whites,  the  Indians  outnumbered  them 
as  nineteen  to  one.  They  were  divided  into 
small  clans,  having  different  names,  and  li- 

*  Massachusetts  Hist.  Coll.  vol.  ix. 

f  The  orthography  of  the  name  of  this  clan  of  the 
Narragansetts,  has  been  various;  it  generally  being  writ 
ten,  by  New  Englanders,  either  Man  tics,  Nih antics,  or 
Nehantics.  The  Indians  themselves,  however,  as  I  have 
discovered  by  the  correspondence  of  Sir  William  John 
son,  when  they  came  to  the  use  of  letters,  wrote  Na- 
hantics.  The  Rev.  Matthew  Graves,  moreover,  Mis 
sionary  among  this  people,  a  century  ago,  who  wrote 
with  scholarship  and  elegance,  spelt  their  name 
NAHANTICS.  I  have  therefore  adopted  his  orthography, 
as  the  most  likely  to  be  correct — and  as  an  Indian 
would  be  most  likely  to  sound  it. 


LIFE  OF  UNCAS.  33 

ving  under  their  own  Sachems.  But  they 
were,  nevertlielesss,  all  Mohegans,  and  with 
the  exception  of  the  Nah  antics,  if  not  under 
the  immediate  government  of  Uncas,  greatly 
subject  to  his  influence. 

The  Dutch  from  Manhattan  Island  had  al 
ready  established  a  small  trading-post  at  the 
junction  of  the  Little  River  with  the  Con 
necticut,  where  now  stands  the  city  of 
Hartford,  between  which  and  the  Indians 
the  most  amicable  relations  existed ;  and  the 
friendship  of  Uncas  secured  for  the  English  a 
welcome  reception  from  all  the  Indians  north 
of  the  circumscribed  territory  of  the  Pequods. 
The  first  house  in  the  colony  was  erected 
by  the  Plymouth  traders,  at  or  near  the  junc 
tion  of  the  Tunxis  river  with  the  Connecticut, 
in  Windsor,  in  the  summer  of  1633.  But  no 
formal  settlement  by  numbers  was  begun  un 
til  two  or  three  years  afterward.  Meantime 
the  movements  of  the  English  were  looked 
upon  by  the  Pequods  with  suspicion.  The 
approach,  even,  of  trading-parties,  was  viewed 
with  an  evil  eye ;  and  their  feelings  broke  out 
into  open  hostility  in  the  following  year,  when 
Captains  Stone  and  Norton,  from  Massachu 
setts,  entering  the  river  in  a  small  bark  for 


34  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

a  trading  expedition,  were  treacherously  mur 
dered,  together  with  the  crew  of  the  vessel.* 
The  Indians  who  committed  these  murders 
had  been  engaged  by  Captain  Stone  as  guides ; 
and  it  has  been  questioned  by  some  of  the 
early  writers  whether  they  were  in  reality 
Pequods.  Be  this  as  it  may,  they  were  in 
close  intercourse  with  them ;  and  the  Sa 
chems,  both  of  the  Pequods,  and  of  their  con 
federates,  the  Nahantics,  shared  in  the  spoils 
of  the  vessel,  which  after  having  been  plun 
dered  was  sunk  in  the  river.f  There  is  rea 
son  to  believe,  moreover,  that  Sassacus  had  al 
ready,  in  anticipation  of  hostilities  with  the 
English,  been  placing  his  country  in  the  best 
posture  of  defence  permitted  by  the  means 
and  skill  of  his  people.  Still  the  murder  of 
Stone  and  his  crew  was  disclaimed,  and  an 
embassy  of  peace  was  sent  by  Sassacus  to 
Boston.  The  ambassadors  stated  that  the 
murders  had  been  perpetrated  by  a  few  va 
grant  Indians  who  had  fled  to  the  Dutch ;  and 
such  were  their  apparent  sincerity,  and  the 
plausibility  of  their  story,  that  the  outrage 
was  overlooked,  and  terms  of  peace  were  con- 

*  Holmes's  Annals.  f  Hutchinson. 


THE   PEQUODS.  35 

eluded.  Upon  the  faith  of  this  treaty,  no  lon 
ger  doubting  the  integrity  of  the  Pequods,  a 
Mr.  John  Oldham  proceeded  with  a  freight 
ed  bark  into  the  waters  of  their  neighborhood 
upon  a  trading  expedition.  His  particular 
destination,  however,  was  Block  Island,  which 
belonged  to  the  Narragansetts.  While  lying 
quietly  at  anchor  near  the  Island,  the  bark  was 
boarded  by  a  cloud  of  Indians,  and  Oldham 
himself  murdered  with  horrible  cruelty.  His 
brains  were  dashed  out  by  a  war-club,  and 
his  limbs  hacked  off.  It  was  subsequently 
ascertained  that  this  outrage  was  committed 
by  a  party  of  the  Block  Island  Indians,  aid 
ed  by  a  number  of  the  Narragansetts.  The 
act  was  disclaimed  by  the  latter,  and  the  per 
petrators  fled  to  the  Pequods,  by  whom  they 
were  received  and  protected.*  Oldham  had 
fifty  pounds  of  gold  coins  upon  his  person 
when  he  was  killed,  which  the  murderers 
took,  and  according  to  the  testimony  of  Lion 

*  Winthrop  states  that  although  Canonicus  sent  a 
message  to  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  disclaiming 
the  murder,  and  asserting  that  Miantonomoh  had  gone 
in  pursuit  of  the  murderers  with  seventeen  canoes  and 
two  hundred  men,  yet  that  all  the  Sachems  of  the  Nar 
ragansetts,  except  Miantonomoh,  were  the  contrivers  of 
the  murder,  in  revenge  for  his  trading  with  the  Pequods. 


36  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

Gardiner,*  after  punching  holes  through  the 
pieces,  they  suspended  them  upon  their  necks 
for  ornaments.  The  Pequods  likewise  com 
mitted  divers  other  outrages  upon  those  En 
glish  who  were  now  engaged  in  the  com 
merce  and  colonization  of  the  river  country. 
This  second  act  of  treachery  and  blood — for 
Stone  and  Norton  had  been  murdered  while 
asleep — roused  the  Massachusetts  colonists  to 
action,  and  a  detachment  of  eighty  men  was 
despatched  against  the  Pequods,  under  Cap- 

*  Lion  Gardiner  was  the  founder  of  Saybrook.  He 
had  served  in  the  Low  Countries  under  General  Fair 
fax,  and  being  a  skilful  engineer,  was  sent  out  by  Lord 
Say-and-Seal,  and  Lord  Brook,  to  construct  a  fort  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut  river,  about  the  year 
1633  or  1634.  He  continued  in  command  of  that  post 
several  years,  and  ultimately  removed  to  Gardiner's  Isl 
and,  which  he  obtained  from  the  Indians,  with  whom, 
especially  those  of  Long  Island,  he  had  much  inter 
course.  He  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Gardiners,  who 
have  remained  in  possession  of  that  island  to  this  day. 
It  has  been  an  entailed  estate,  until  it  fell  to  the  late 
Jonathan  Gardiner,  deceased,  at  whose  death  the  entail 
was  broken.  There  is  a  tradition  that  the  Island  was 
conveyed  to  Gardiner  by  Waiandance,  in  consequence 
of  his  (Gardiner's)  exertions  to  ransom  the  chieftain's 
daughter,  who  had  been  made  prisoner  by  Ninegrate, 
during  a  war  between  the  Nahantics  and  the  Long  Isl 
and  Indians. 


ENDICOTT'S  EXPEDITION.  37 

tain  Endicott,  with  instructions  first  to  pro 
ceed  to  Block  Island  and  put  the  offenders  to 
the  sword,  but  to  spare  the  women  and  child 
ren.  Having  ravaged  the  Island  and  aveng 
ed  the  death  of  Oldham,  by  burning  their 
wigwams,  sixty  in  number,  and  destroying 
their  corn,  Endicott  was  next  to  proceed  to 
the  Pequod  country,  and  demand  the  murder 
ers  of  Stone  and  Norton.  The  demand  not 
being  complied  with,  instant  hostilities  were 
to  follow.  The  instructions  with  regard  to 
Block  Island  were  literally  executed.  The  Isl 
and  was  subjugated  after  a  slender  resistance^ 
and  ravaged  by  fire  and  sword.  The  com 
mander  next  proceeded  to  the  territory  of  the 
Pequods ;  but  shortly  after  landing  a  large 
number  of  the  Indians  appeared  in  his  front 
and  attempted  to  open  a  parley  with  him — 
speaking  by  an  interpreter,  yet  maintaining  a 
respectful  distance.  But  on  being  made  ac 
quainted  with  the  terms  dictated  by  the  in 
vaders,  they  fled  to  the  woods  and  disappear 
ed.  Winter  was  now  approaching,  and  En 
dicott,  instead  of  obeying  his  instructions,  re 
turned  home,  for  the  alleged  purpose  of  making 
preparations  for  a  more  formidable  expedition 


38  LIFE  OF  UNO  AS. 

than  he  had  brought  into  the  field.  He  was 
severely  censured  for  his  conduct,  in  not  pur 
suing  and  attacking  the  enemy  at  the  time. 
Yet  when  he  came  to  view  the  numbers,  the 
preparations,  and  the  temper  of  the  Indians, 
it  is  possible  that  his  retreat  was  not  an  in 
defensible  measure.  After  leaving  Block 
Island,  and  before  entering  the  Pequod  coun 
try,  Endicott  had  landed  at  Saybrook,  and 
made  that  place  hisrendevous,  to  the  no  small 
grief  and  displeasure  of  Lieutenant  Gardiner. 
The  latter  had  previously  had  some  trouble 
with  the  Pequods  ;  and  in  his  own  simple  and 
straight-forward  narrative  of  the  Pequod 
Wars,  he  says  of  Endicott, — "  You  have  now 
come  hither  to  raise  these  wasps  about  my 
ears,  and  then  you  will  take  wing  and  flee 
away."  Gardiner  remonstrated  against  the 
expedition,  but  nevertheless  sent  some  of  his 
own  men  with  them,  for  the  purpose,  it  would 
seem,  of  sharing  in  the  expected  plunder  of 
corn — his  little  fort  being  short  of  provisions. 
On  the  retreat  of  Endicott,  his  men  reached 
their  boats  and  embarked  first,  having  pre 
viously  burnt  several  wigwams,  and  destroyed 
a  quantity  of  corn.  Gardiner's  men  remain 
ing  behind,  the  Indians  reappeared  and  a 


I 

"*;? 

PEQUODS    AND    NARRAGANSETTS.  39 

skirmish  ensued,  in  which  two  of  the  former 
were  wrounded,  and  one  of  the  Indians  killed 
by  a  Sachem  friendly  to  Gardiner.  "And 
thus/'  says  the  latter,  "  began  the  war  be 
tween  the  Indians  and  us  in  those  parts."* 

The  Pequods  and  Narragansetts  had  long 
been  at  war,  and  were  regarded  almost  as  he 
reditary  enemies.  Justly  anticipating  that 
a  storm  would  break  upon  them  in  the  Spring 
or  Summer  ensuing,  the  former  now  attempt 
ed  to  open  negociations  with  the  latter,  not 
only  for  peace  between  themselves,  but  for 
the  purpose  of  an  alliance,  offensive  and  de 
fensive,  against  the  English,  with  whom  the 
Narragansetts  had  lived  upon  amicable  terms 
ever  since  their  "war  message"  had  been 
so  promptly  returned  "  in  kind  "  by  the  co 
lonists  of  Plymouth.  Sassacus  saw  that  seve 
ral  of  the  chiefs  who  had  been  conquered  and 
desposed  by  him,  had  been  restored  to  their 
dominions  and  authority  by  the  English  in 
truders.  He  saw  new  stations  occupied  by 
them  in  rapid  succession;  and  by  their  in 
creasing  numbers  and  military  demonstrations, 
it  was  obvious  that  if  not  repelled  at  the  out- 

*  Vide  Mass.  Hist,  Coll.  vol.  iii.,  3d  series. 


40  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

set,  these  strangers  would  plant  themselves 
down  too  firmly  to  be  easily  uprooted.  A 
man  of  half  the  sagacity  of  Sassacus  would 
have  reasoned  as  he  did.  He  saw  that  the 
weak  would  inevitably  fall  before  the  strong  ; 
and  that  the  settlements  of  the  pale-faces 
must  be  extirpated  in  their  infancy,  or  his 
own  people  and  their  kindred  nations  would 
be  crushed. 

The  arguments  of  the  Pequods  to  the  Nar- 
ragansetts  were  more  than  plausible ;  they 
were  sagacious  and  politic.  "  Although,"  says 
Hutchinson,  "  they  had  never  heard  the  story 
of  Polypheme  and  Ulysses,  yet  they  artfully 
urged  that  the  English  were  come  to  dispos 
sess  them  of  their  country,  and  that  all  the 
Narragansetts  could  hope  for  from  their  friend 
ship  was  the  favour  of  being  the  last  devour 
ed  ;  whereas  if  the  Indians  would  unite  they 
might  easily  destroy  the  English,  or  force 
them  to  leave  the  country."  For  a  brief  pe 
riod  the  Narragansetts  listened  to  the  warn 
ings  of  their  Pequod  neighbors  with  apparent 
favour  ;  but  the  emnity  between  the  two  na 
tions  was  alike  bitter  and  inveterate— a  cir 
cumstance  of  which  the  rulers  of  Massachu- 


PEQUODS  AND  NARRAGANSETTS.  41 

setts  lost  not  the  advantage.  Canonicus,*  the 
chief  Sachem  of  the  Narragansetfs,  on  the 
first  arrival  of  the  colonists  at  Plymouth,  a 
very  wise  and  able  man,  was  now  old  ;  and 
his  nephew,  Miantonomoh,t  the  son  of  his 
youngest  brother,  and  his  destined  successor, 
during  that  year  had  been  associated  with 
him  in  the  government ; — a  practice  not  un- 
frequent  among  the  New  England  Indians, 
and  common  in  the  ancient  Hebrew  Monar- 
chy.f  Anticipating  that  Sassacus  might  at- 

*  Of  the  parentage  of  Canonicus,  Hutchinson  gives 
the  following  tradition : — "  The  ancient  Indians  among 
the  Narragansetts  reported  when  the  English  first  ar 
rived,  that  they  had  in  former  times  a  sachem  called 
Tashtassuk,  incomparably  greater  than  any  in  the 
whole  land,  in  power  and  state.  He  had  only  two  chil 
dren,  a  son  and  a  daughter,  and  not  being  able  to  match 
them  according  to  their  dignity,  he  joined  them  together 
in  matrimony,  and  that  they  had  four  sons,  of  whom 
Canonicus,  who  was  Sachem  when  the  English  came, 
was  the  eldest."  This,  adds  the  historian,  is  the  only 
piece  of  Indian  history  or  tradition,  of  any  sort,  from 
the  ancestors  of  our  Indians,  I  have  ever  met  with. 

f  The  name  of  this  Chief  has  also  been  written  in 
different  ways.  Roger  Williams'  writes  it  indifferently, 
Meantinomy  and  Miantunnimoh. 

i  "  Meantinomy,  because  of  his  youth,  was  his  Mar- 

4* 


42  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

tempt  a  reconciliation  and  an  alliance  with 
Canonicus  and  Miantonomoh,  and  fearing 
lest  the  effort  to  that  end  might  be  successful , 
the  Governor  of  Massachusetts  sent  a  solemn 
embassage  to  the  Narragansett  Court,  which 
"  was  most  royally  received."  After  the 
message  had  been  delivered,  Miantonomoh 
replied  that  he  willingly  embraced  peace  with 
the  English,  but  added  that  from  the  near 
ness  of  the  Pequods,  he  thought  it  expedient 
to  hold  amity  with  both.*  Still  the  Narra- 
gansetts  were  reluctant  to  lose  an  opportunity 

shal  and  Executioner.  When  the  Sachems  had  con 
demned  any  one  to  be  punished,  they  very  often  execu 
ted  the  sentence  themselves  ; — sometimes,  however,  one 
of  the  Chief  Warriors  was  made  the  Executioner.33 — 
Roger  Williams. 

*  Winthrop's  Journal,  Holmes,  and  Johnson's  "  Won 
der- Workynge  Providence."  The  latter  thus  records 
the  reception.  "  They  were  entertained  royally, 
in  the  Indian  manner.  Boiled  chestnuts  is  their  white 
bread,  and  because  they  would  be  extraordinary  in  their 
feasting,  they  strove  for  variety  after  the  English  man 
ner,  boiling  pudding  made  of  Indian  corn,  putting 
therein  great  store  of  blackberries,  something  like  cur 
rants.  Having  thus  nobly  feasted  them,  they  gave  them 
audience  in  a  state-house,  round,  about  fifty  feet  wide, 
made  of  long  poles  stuck  in  the  ground,  covered  with 
mats." 


MISSION  TO  BOSTON.  43 

of  avenging  themselves  against  their  an 
cient  enemy,  and  the  Massachusetts  em- 
bassage  was  shortly  reciprocated  by  a  visit 
from  Miantonomoh  in  person,  with  a  retinue  of 
twenty  chiefs.  They  were  received  in  Bos 
ton  with  much  stateliness  and  ceremony  by 
the  Governor.  The  magistrates  and  clergy 
were  convened  for  the  occasion,  and  the 
chiefs  were  conducted  into  the  town  from 
Roxbury  by  a  military  escort.  But  if  Mian 
tonomoh  had  for  a  moment  felt  a  friendly  emo 
tion  toward  the  Pequods,  as  he  had  so  lately 
declared  to  the  Boston  messengers,  all  the 
vengeance  of  his  soul  had  now  kindled  afresh. 
His  propositions  to  the  governor  contemplated 
the  entire  destruction  of  that  people,  and  he 
expressly  desired  that  by  the  compact  to  be 
concluded,  neither  the  English  nor  the  Indians 
should  make  peace  until  the  work  should  be 
accomplished.  "  The  Governor,  for  form's 
sake,"  ingenuously  confesses  the  historian, 
"  took  time  until  the  next  morning  to  give  an 
answer."  Accordingly  early  on  the  following 
day,  a  treaty  was  concluded,  by  which  neither 
party  was  to  make  peace  with  the  Pequods 
without  the  consent  of  the  other.* 
*  Hutchiuson. 


44  LIFE  OF  UN  CAS. 

The  counsels  of  Sassacus  to  Miantonomoh 
had  been  those  of  wisdom.  But  the  course  of 
the  latter  resulted  in  the  gratification  of  pre 
sent  revenge,  at  the  cost  of  his  own  ultimate 
destruction. 

During  the  progress  of  these  negociations, 
the  Pequods  continued  their  hostilities  against 
the  settlers  of  Connecticut  by  frequent  mur 
ders — laboring  withal  to  rouse  all  the  Indian 
nations  under  their  influence  to  join  them  in 
the  contest,  notwithstanding  their  ill-success 
in  the  effort  to  provoke  the  Narragansetts  to 
unite  with  them  in  what  should  have  been  a 
common  cause.  The  continued  inroads  of 
the  pale  faces  fired  the  bosom  of  Sassacus 
with  indignation,  and  the  flame  burned  with 
corresponding  intensity  in  the  bosoms  of 
his  people.  Insensible  to  fear  as  the  pan 
thers  of  their  own  forests,  both  chief  and 
people  resolved  to  make  red  their  paths  with 
the  blood  of  the  intruders,  and  either  drive 
them  from  the  country  or  perish  in  the  con 
test.  Several  murders  were  committed  in  the 
autumn  of  1636,  and  the  Fort  at  Saybrook 
was  little  better  than  in  a  state  of  siege  during 
the  whole  of  the  winter  following.  Every 


OUTRAGES  OF  THE  PEQJJODS.  45 

motion  of  the  garrison  was  narrowly  watched, 
and  the  navigation  of  the  river  seriously  im 
peded  by  the  wily  foe  lurking  in  every  co 
vert  upon  its  banks.  In  February,  1637,  a 
Lieutenant  Gardiner,  having  left  the  fort  with 
a  party  of  ten,  to  work  upon  the  marshes,  was 
attacked  and  driven  in  with  the  loss  of  seve 
ral  of  his  men,  himself  being  wounded.  Soon 
afterward  a  vessel  descending  the  river,  man 
ned  by  three  men,  was  attacked  by  the 
Indians  in  their  canoes.  One  of  the  naviga 
tors  was  shot  through  the  head  with  an  arrow, 
and  the  others  were  taken  and  put  to  death 
by  the  most  frightful  tortures ;  their  mangled 
corpses  being  hung  upon  trees  by  the  river 
side,  as  a  spectacle  of  terror  to  the  English  in 
passing  by.  The  settlement  of  Weathers- 
field  was  attacked  shortly  thereafter,  and  six 
men  and  three  women  killed,  two  young  wo 
men  being  taken  prisoners.  These  bloody 
acts  had  been  immediately  provoked  by  the 
expedition  of  Captain  Endicott — the  Pequods 
avenging  the  invasion  of  Massachusetts  upon 
the  settlers  of  Connecticut.  The  dissatisfac 
tion  of  the  latter  in  regard  to  that  expedition 
was  expressed  by  the  General  Court,  and  a 


46  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

request  preferred  that  Massachusetts  should 
prosecute  the  war  with  greater  vigor.  The 
fort  at  Saybrook  had  been  so  severely  pressed, 
0  that  Captain  Mason  was  sent  thither  from 
Hartford  with  a  reinforcement  of  twenty  men. 
But  he  was  shortly  relieved  by  a  detachment 
of  the  same  number  of  "  lusty"  men  from 
Massachusetts,  sent  thither  by  Sir  Henry 
Vane,  then  for  a  brief  period  governor  of  that 
colony,  under  Captain  Underbill,  "  one  of 
the  forwardest  of  the  Boston  enthusiasts."  In 
all,  during  the  spring  of  this  year,  the  Con 
necticut  colonists  lost  about  thirty  of  their 
number  by  the  arms  of  the  Pequods ;  and  as 
the  latter  were  lurking  about  the  confines  of 
every  settlement,  the  whole  colony  was  in  a 
very  distressed  condition.* 

*  "/The  Pequods  lay  skulking  about  almost  continu 
ally  ;  by  which  means  divers  of  the  English  lost  their 
lives,  and  some  that  were  seized  by  the  Indians  going 
on  the  river,  were  most  horribly  tortured  by  them,  and 
roasted  alive ;  and  afterwards  the  Tawnies  would  with 
derision  in  the  English  hearing,  imitate  the  doleful 
ejaculations  and  invocations  of  the  poor  victims  that  had 
perished  under  their  cruel  tortures,  and  add  infinite 
blasphemies  thereunto.  So  that  the  infant  colonies  of 
New-England  were  necessitated  to  the  crushing  of  the 
serpents,  while  they  were  but  yet  in  the  cradle." — Mag- 
nalia  Christi  Americana. 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR.  47 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  determin 
ed  by  the  three  colonies  of  Plymouth,  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  Connecticut,  to  unite  their 
military  strength  in  a  well  concerted  effort  to 
crush  the  power  of  Sassacus,  and  extinguish 
his  nation.  Miantonomoh  rejoiced  in  the 
prospect  of  seeing  the  terrible  enemy  of  his 
people  struck  down,  and  promised  the  assist 
ance  of  his  warriors ;  while  Uncas,  whose 
friendship  for  the  English  never  wavered,  was 
equally  gratified  by  an  invitation  to  take  arms 
once  more  against  the  Chief  from  whom  he 
had  revolted,  but  who  was  yet  to  the  sur 
rounding  Indians  powerful. 

A  General  Court  was  summoned  at  Hart 
ford,  on  the  first  of  May,  to  take  measures  for 
the  expedition,  in  which  the  three  towns  of 
Hartford,  Windsor  and  Weathersfield,  by 
which  the  war  was  to  be  prosecuted,  were 
fully  represented.  It  was  resolved  that  a 
body  of  ninety  men  should  be  raised,  forty- 
two  of  whom  were  to  be  taken  from  Hartford, 
thirty  from  Windsor,  and  eighteen  from 
Weathersfield.  The  whole  were  to  be  com 
manded  by  Major  John  Mason.  The  people 
were  few  and  poor  ;  but  the  necessary  sup- 


48  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

plies  were  raised  with  alacrity,  and  every  dis 
position  promptly  made  for  the  vigorous  pro 
secution  of  the  war.*  Meantime  the  colonists 
of  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth,  alive  to  the 
sufferings  and  perilous  situation  of  their  friends 
in  Connecticut,  determined  to  render  prompt 
and  efficient  aid  in  the  emergency.  One  hun- 
red  and  sixty  men  were  raised  by  the  former 
colony,  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Stoughton,  and  forty  by  the  latter.  Of  the 
Massachusetts  division  forty  were  sent  forward 
in  advance,  under  Captain  Patrick-! 

Major  John  Mason,  the  officer  entrusted 
with  the  command  of  the  Connecticut  forces, 
was  an  Englishman,  then  in  the  prime  of  life, 
being  thirty-seven  years  old.  He  was  bred 
to  arms,  and  had  served  with  credit  in  the 
Netherlands,  under  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax.  He 
was  one  of  the  dauntless  men  who  led  the  first 
colonists  from  Dorchester  to  Windsor,  and  the 
vigor  and  ability  with  which  he  exercised  his 
military  trusts,  showed  that  they  could  not 
have  been  confided  to  more  competent  hands. 
His  little  command  of  ninety  men  embarked 

*  Trumbull.  f  Hutchinson. 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR.  49 

in  three  small  vessels  at  Hartford,  on  the  10th 
of  May,  having  been  joined  by  Uncas  with 
seventy  of  his  Mohegan  warriors  with  a  fleet 
of  canoes.  The  descent  of  the  river  was  te 
dious  ;  the  vessels  were  several  times  aground ; 
and  the  Indians,  becoming  impatient  of  the 
delay,  obtained  permission  to  go  ashore  and 
proceed  to  Saybrook  by  land.  On  their  way, 
and  at  no  great  distance  from  the  Fort,  they 
.fell  in  with  a  party  of  forty  Pequods.  A  brisk 
skirmish  ensued,  which  resulted  in  the  defeat 
of  the  latter,  with  the  loss  of  seven  of  their 
warriors  killed,  and  one  taken  prisoner.  Un 
important  as  this  little  engagement  was,  in 
itself  considered,  its  consequence  was  not  in 
considerable  in  another  respect,  as  it  served  to 
assure  the  colonists  of  the  fidelity  of  the  Mo- 
hegans,  who,  with  their  chief,  had  been  some 
what,  though  most  unjustly,  distrusted.  This 
prisoner  had  been  an  inmate  of  the  fort  at 
Saybrook ;  but  on  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war  he  had  absconded  and  joined  his  people. 
His  acquaintance  with  the  English  and  a 
good  knowledge  of  their  language  enabled 
him  to  act  as  a  spy,  in  which  service  he  was 
employed  by  Sassacus.  The  Mohegans  were 


50  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

so  highly  incensed  against  him  that  they  de 
termined  to  put  him  to  death  by  torture,  after 
their  own  customs  ; "  and  the  English,"  as  the 
laborious  Trumbull  naively  remarks,  "  in  the 
circumstances  in  which  they  were,  did  not 
-judge  it  prudent  to  interpose."  A  large  fire 
was  accordingly  kindled,  before  which  he 
was  roasted,  and  his  body  torn  limb  from 
limb,  cut  in  pieces,  and  eaten  while  yet  the 
flesh  was  quivering  between  their  teeth. 
This  I  believe  is  the  first  if  not  the  only  record 
of  actual  cannibalism  found  in  the  annals  of 
New-England.  The  fidelity  of  Uncas  was  yet 
farther  tested  by  Lieutenant  Gardiner,  after 
his  arrival  at  Saybrook.  "  I  called  for  Un 
cas,"  says  Gardiner,  "  and  said  to  him,  '  You 
say  you  will  help  Major  Mason,  but  I  will 
first  see  it ;  therefore  send  you  now  twenty 
men  to  the  Bass  River,  for  there  went  yester 
day  night  six  Indians  in  a  canoe  thither ; 
fetch  them  now,  dead  or  alive,  and  then  you 
shall  go  with  Major  Mason, — else  not.'  So 
he  sent  his  men,  who  killed  four,  brought  one, 
a  traitor,  to  us  alive,  and  one  ran  away." 

Mason  arrived  at  Saybrook  on  the  15th, 
and  the  slender  garrison  of  that  place  was 


THE  PEQTJOD  WAR.  51 

added  to  his  little  army.  Being  detained  seve 
ral  days  by  contrary  winds,  some  dissensions 
arose  as  to  the  point  where  the  Pequod  coun 
try  should  be  invaded.  The  Court  had  in 
structed  Mason  to  land  at  Pequod  Harbor, 
and  march  thence  directly  upon  the  Indian 
forts,  and  the  subordinate  officers  and  soldiers 
were  for  a  literal  execution  of  their  orders. 
But  it  was  well  known  that  the  natural  de 
fences  of  the  harbor  were  formidable,  and  it 
was  ascertained  that  the  Pequods  were  there 
in  force,  armed  in  part,  as  it  was  reported, 
with  muskets,— those 

"  Tools  pregnant  with  infernal  flame," 
which  had  thus  far,  in  a  good  degree,  been 
kept  from  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  Thus 
prepared,  the  Pequods  were  watching  day 
and  night  for  the  approach  of  the  invaders. 
Mason  was  therefore  of  the  opinion  that  it 
would  be  best  to  sail  past  the  Pequod  Harbor 
into  the  Narragansett  Bay,  there  to  land,  and 
thence  take  the  enemy  by  surprise  from  an 
unexpected  direction.  The  chaplain  of  the 
expedition  was  the  Rev.  Samuel  Stone,  the 
colleague  of  Hooker  at  Hartford  ;  and  a  man 
of  great  wit,  learning,  and  piety.  As  the 


52  LIFE    OF    UNCAS. 

Pilgrims,  in  all  important  undertakings,  were 
accustomed  to  ask  wisdom  from  above,  Mr. 
Stone  was  desired  to  make  the  question  in  dis 
pute  the  subject  of  special  prayer.  He  ac 
cordingly  spent  nearly  the  whole  of  the  fol 
lowing  night  in  anxious  supplications  to  the 
Almighty  for  wisdom  to  direct  them  in  their 
course.  On  joining  the  officers  in  the  morn 
ing,  Mr.  Stone  expressed  his  concurrence  in 
the  views  of  their  commander,  and  thereupon 
they  were  acceded  to  without  a  murmur. 
This  deviation  from  the  instructions  of  the 
Court  was  doubtless  the  course  of  wisdom. 
General  Courts,  and  legislative  bodies,  and 
councils  at  a  distance  from  the  scene  of  ac 
tion,  are  but  poor  directors  of  military  move 
ments,  where  everything  depends  upon  cir 
cumstances  ever-varying,  as  well  as  upon  the 
skill  and  promptness  with  which  they  can  be 
turned  to  account  by  the  commander  on  the 
spot. 

Before  Mason's  departure  from  Saybrook, 
twenty  inefficient  men  from  Hartford  were 
sent  home,  and  their  places  supplied  from  the 
garrison  of  Lieutenant  Gardiner,  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Underbill,  from  Massa- 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR.  53 

chusetts.  The  expedition  sailed  on  Friday, 
the  19th  of  May,  arriving  in  the  Narragan- 
sett  Bay  on  the  20th.  The  day  following 
being  the  Christian  Sabbath,  no  attempt  was 
made  to  land  ;  and  on  Monday  access  to  the 
shore  was  prevented  by  a  north-western  gale 
which  continued  until  Tuesday  afternoon ;  at 
sunset  on  the  evening  of  which  day  Major 
Mason  effected  a  landing,  and  marched  up  to 
the  lodge  of  Canonicus,  the  aged  chief  of  the 
Narragansetts,  and  the  uncle  of  Miantonomoh? 
whose  guardian  he  had  been  during  his  mi 
nority,  and  who  was  now  his  chief  executive 
officer,  the  regal  authority  having  in  fact  been 
committed  to  his  hands  several  years  before. 
Mason  having  made  known  to  Canonicus  the 
reason  why,  unbidden,  he  had  thus  appeared 
in  arms  in  his  territory,  the  aged  Chief  ap 
proved  cordially  of  the  object  of  the  expedi 
tion,  and  sent  for  Miantonomoh  for  farther 
counsel.  Obedient  to  the  summons  Mianto 
nomoh  joined  his  uncle  with  alacrity,  attended 
by  two  hundred  of  his  chiefs  and  warriors. 
The  young  prince  likewise  approved  warmly 
of  the  enterprise,  but  considered  the  numbers 
of  the  English  and  Mohegans  altogether  too 


54  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

small  to  march  against  so  fierce  and  compara- 
ively  numerous  a  people  as  the  Pequods.  He 
therefore  volunteered  the  services  of  two  hun 
dred  of  his  Narragansett  braves,  but  did  not 
go  forth  himself  as  their  leader.*  On  the 
same  evening  a  runner  came  in  from  the  plan 
tation  of  Roger  Williams,  at  Providence,  with 
a  letter  from  Captain  Patrick,  who,  with  his 
forty  men,  was  hastening  to  join  the  forces  of 
Mason  and  his  allies,  and  urging  them  not  to 
move  forward  until  his  arrival.  But  the 
•white  troops  of  Mason  were  anxious  to  exe 
cute  the  purpose  of  their  expedition  and  return 
for  the  protection  of  their  families,  attacks 
upon  whom  might  be  made  from  other  direc 
tions  ;  while  it  was  apprehended  that  their 
Indian  allies  might  question  their  prowess  if 
they  delayed  any  longer.  Indeed  their  dusky 
allies  had  already  begun  to  laugh  at  their  ex 
pense,  saying  that  "  Englishmen  talked  much 
but  would  not  fight."  Another  evil  conse 
quence  of  a  longer  delay,  would  probably  be 

*  "  The  great  body  of  the  Narragansetts  were  very 
desirous  of  revenge  against  the  Pequods ;  but  the  old 
Sachems  were  desirous  of  remaining  neutral." — Callen- 
der's  Centennial  Sermon. 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR.  55 

that  the  Pequods  would  hear  of  their  approach 
from  this  hitherto  unexpected  quarter.  It  was 
therefore  determined  not  to  wait  for  the  acces 
sion  of  Patrick's  company,  but  to  push  forward 
for  the  Pequod  country  on  the  morning  of  the 
24th.  Mason's  forces  now  numbered  no 
more  than  seventy-seven  Englishmen,  sixty 
Mohegans,  and  about  two  hundred  Narragan- 
setts.  They  reached  the  eastern  Nah antic, 
bordering  the  Pequod  territory,  at  nightfall, 
and  encamped  near  the  castle  of  a  subordi 
nate  Narragansett  sachem, — the  site  of  the 
present  town  of  Westerly, — whose  carriage 
was  so  haughty  and  sullen  that  it  was  judged 
prudent  to  place  a  guard  around  his  fortress, 
to  prevent  any  nocturnal  communication  be 
tween  his  people  and  the  enemy.*  But  on 

*  «  The  site  of  the  present  town  of  Westerly."  Thus 
it  would  appear  by  some  authorities.  Potter,  however, 
in  his  compilation  of  Narragansett  history,  (Coll.  Rhode 
Island  Hist.  Society,  vol.  iii.)  thinks  the  place  of  this 
night's  encampment  was  at  Fort  Neck,  twelve  miles 
from  the  Pawcatuck  river.  He  says,  <(  there  are  now 
the  remains  of  an  old  fort  there,  with  traces  of  ditches, 
and  a  wall  of  stone  and  earth.  It  is  on  a  point  of 
land,  projecting  into  a  pond,  with  steep  banks.  Near  it 
is  an  ancient  burial  place  of  the  Nehantic  Sachems." 


56  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

the  following  morning  a  portion  of  these  Na- 
hantics  joined  the  expedition,  and  numbers 
more  of  the  Narragansett  people  overtook 
them  in  the  course  of  the  day — thus  increas 
ing  the  Indian  forces  to  about  five  hundred  ;— 
all  loud  in  proclaiming  their  own  valor,  and 
boasting  of  the  deeds  they  were  to  perform  in 
the  coming  encounter. 

It  had  been  ascertained  that  the  great  ma 
jority  of  the  Pequbd  warriors  were  in  two 
forts,  or  inclosures  of  pallisadoes,  of  which 
mention  has  already  been  made,  so  large  as 
to  embrace  a  considerable  number  of  their 
wigwams,  occupied  by  their  old  men,  their 
women  and  children.  One  of  these  fortresses, 
or  stockades,  was  commanded  by  Sassacus 
in  person,  and  both  had  been  rendered  as 
strong  as  the  means  and  martial  science  of 
the  Indians  would  allow.  They  were  indeed 
thought  by  them,  both  within  and  without, 
to  be  impregnable.  It  had  been  the  design 
of  Captain  Mason  to  attack  both  these  defen 
ces  at  the  same  time,  but  on  arriving  at  the 
Pawcatuck  river,  after  a  march  of  twelve 
miles,  information  was  received  from  We- 
quash,  a  petty  Pequod  sachem,  who  had  re- 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR.  57 

volted  from  Sassacus  to  the  Narragansetts, 
that  induced  the  captain  to  change  his  pur 
pose.*  The  forts  were  situated  at  too  great 
a  distance  apart  to  allow  a  division  of  the 
English  forces;  for  it  was  on  them  that  the 
chief  reliance  must  be  placed  in  the  opera 
tion  of  storming  the  works.  Thus  circum 
stanced,  it  was  now  determined  that  the  first 
attack  should  be  made  upon  the  fort  at  Mis- 
tick,  upon  which  the  march  was  immediately 
directed.  But  the  name  of  Sassacus  was  yet 
so  terrible  to  the  Indians,  that  notwithstanding 
their  previous  vauntings,  their  hearts  failed 
them  as  they  advanced  in  the  direction  of  his 
strong  holds.  The  project  of  attacking  the 
great  chieftain  in  his  fort  argued,  in  their  ap 
prehension,  a  degree  of  temerity  worse  than 
madness.  "  Sassacus,"  they  said,  "  was  all 
one  God,  and  could  not  be  killed."  At  first 
they  endeavored  to  dissuade  the  English 
leader  from  any  such  rashness  as  to  attack 

*  "  This  Wequash  was  by  birth  a  Pequod.  He  was  a 
sachem,  residing  where  Sassacus  lived;  but  upon  some 
disgust  received,  he  went  from  the  Pequods  to  the  Nar 
ragansetts,,  and  became  a  chief  captain  under  Miantono- 
moh." — Increase  Mather. 


58  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

him ;  but  finding  their  arguments  of  no  avail, 
about  a  hundred  of  the  Narragansetts  with 
drew  from  the  army,  and  retreated  back  to 
Providence,  reporting  as  they  went,  that  the 
English  had  all  fallen  before  the  fury  of  the 
Pequods.  The  rumor  spread  to  Boston,  where 
it  was  received  with  deep  anxiety.  Uncas  in 
deed  had  predicted  that  the  Narragansetts 
would  leave  them,  as  Major  Mason  declares 
in  his  own  history  of  the  campaign.  "  But  as 
for  himself,"  adds  the  Major,  Uncas  declar 
ed  "  that  he  would  never  leave  us,  and  so  it 
proved :  for  which  expressions,  and  some 
other  speeches  of  his,  I  shall  never  forget  him- 
Indeed  he  was  a  great  friend,  and  did  great 
service." 

Meantime  Major  Mason  pressed  forward  up 
on  Mistick,  being  guided  thither  by  Wequash, 
who  was  a  native  of  that  place,  and  whose 
hostility  to  Sassacus  had  now  become  so  bit 
ter  as  to  prompt  him  to  lead  an  enemy  to  the 
destruction  not  only  of  his  own  people,  but  of 
his  own  relations.  The  weather  was  exceed 
ingly  hot,  and  the  march  through  the  tangled 
wilderness  so  embarrassing,  that  all  the 
English  were  severe  sufferers,  and  some  of 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR.  59 

them  sank  down  disabled  from  service.  But 
however  much  their  limbs  failed,  their  hearts 
faltered  not,  and  just  at  the  close  of  the  day 
they  found  themselves,  as  they  supposed,  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  Mistick  fort ;  although 
it  subsequently  appeared  that  they  were  not 
so  near  by  two  or  three  miles  as  they  had 
been  led  to  believe.  Repose  and  refreshment 
being  needed  by  all,  before  going  into  action, 
they  bivouacked  for  the  night  near  certain 
rocks  yet  marking  the  place  in  Groton,  now 
known  as  Porter's  rocks.*  The  men  soon 
sought  rest  in  sleep,  pillowing  their  heads  as 
Jacob  did  at  Bethel,  and  trusting,  with  a  faith 
as  strong  as  his, upon  the  same  unseen  though 
Almighty  power  for  protection.  In  the  course 
of  the  evening  Wequash  was  sent  forward  to 
reconnoitre  the  situation  of  the  enemy,  and  his 
report,  on  returning  to  the  camp,  imparted 
strong  encouragement.  He  ascertained  that 
the  Pequods  were  in  a  high  feast  and  carou 
sal.  They  had  seen  the  transport  vessels 
passing  round  from  Say  brook  toward  Narra- 
gansett  bay,  and  as  no  attempt  had  been 
made  to  land  at  Pequod  harbor,  they  were  im- 
*  Trumbull. 


60  LIFE   OF    UNCAS. 

pressed  with  the  idea  that  through  fear  Mason 
had  relinquished  the  enterprise.  Having  more 
over  had  great  success  in  fishing  the  previous 
day,  they  were  holding  a  feast,  and  celebrat 
ing  by  song  and  dance  the  departure  of  their 
enemy, — not  dreaming  that  he  was  even  then 
within  sound  of  their  revelry.  Their  festival 
closed  about  midnight,  and  the  revellers  gave 
themselves  up  to  a  slumber,  rendered  more 
than  ordinarily  profound  by  reason  of  their 
exertions  and  their  orgies.  The  night  was 
serene,  and  toward  morning  the  moon  arose 
to  spread  her  silver  mantle  over  the  wild  land 
scape.  The  little  army  of  the  English  was 
then  aroused  from  sleep,  and  the  necessary  dis 
positions  were  made  for  advancing  to  the  attack. 
Having  commended  themselves  to  the  care  of 
the  great  Ruler  of  armies,  they  proceeded 
about  two  miles,  when,  supposing  the  fort 
could  not  be  far  distant,  Major  Mason  sent 
for  the  Indians,  now  in  the  rear,  to  advance. 
But,  instead  of  the  main  body,  Uncas  and  We- 
quash,  only,  came  forward  to  the  commander. 
They  stated  that  their  warriors  were  reluctant 
to  proceed  in  the  van,  as  they  had  done 
in  the  preceding  marches  ; — whereupon  per- 


STORMING  OF  FORT  MISTICK.  61 

mission  was  given  them  to  remain  in  the 
rear,  with  a  charge  not  to  flee  away,  but  to 
form  a  circle  round  the  fortress,  now  discerned 
upon  the  crest  of  a  hill  in  front,  "  and  see 
whether  Englishmen  would  fight."  All  things 
being  in  readiness  for  the  assault,  Wequash 
piloted  Major  Mason  to  the  north-eastern, 
and  Captain  Underbill,  with  his  command,  to 
the  north-western  entrance.  It  was  yet  an 
hour  before  day-break,  but  the  moon  gave  suf 
ficient  light  for  the  purposes  of  the  assailants. 
The  Pequod  sentinel  in  front  of  Mason  had 
left  his  post  for  a  few  moments  to  light  his 
pipe,  so  that  a  faithful  dog  was  first  to  give 
the  alarm  to  the  slumbering  garrison.  The 
barking  of  the  dog  was  quickly  succeeded  by 
the  exclamation  of  the  returning  sentinel, 
"  Owannux  !"  «  Owannux  !"  «  English 
men!"  "Englishmen!"  The  alarm  caused 
an  instant  rallying  of  the  garrison,  though  in 
in  a  state  of  confusion  that  gave  the  assailants, 
now  pressing  forward  with  great  vigor,  a 
decided  advantage  in  the  outset.  The  timbers 
forming  the  pallisadoes  were  not  placed  close 
enough  together  to  prevent  the  assailants  from 
firing  between  them,  which  they  did  with 


62  LIFE    OF    UNCAS. 

great  effect  ;  and  the  roar  of  musketry  ? 
mingled  with  the  yells  of  the  Indians  within, 
which  were  answered  by  the  war-whoops  of 
those  without,  formed  together  a  horrible  din 
of  discordant  sounds,  such  as  had  never  before 
disturbed  the  repose  of  the  Pequod  country. 
After  a  few  discharges  of  their  arms  in  this 
manner,  Mason  directed  his  attention  to  the 
principal  entrance,  which  was  soon  forced,  and 
his  troops  rushed  forward  swrord  in  hand.  Then 
followed  a  struggle  of  death.  The  Pequods 
were  none  of  them  supplied  with  fire-arms, 
and  were  obliged  to  fight  only  with  bows  and 
arrows,  war-clubs  and  tomahawks,  while  the 
fire-arms  of  the  English  gave  them  an  advan 
tage  more  than  counterbalancing  their  infe 
riority  of  numbers.  The  Pequods  nevertheless 
made  a  manly  and  desperate  resistance, — 
hand  to  hand  and  foot  to  foot ; — but  the  Eng 
lish  pressing  steadily  forward  compelled  them 
to  retreat  through  the  principal  avenue  of 
their  walled  village  toward  the  western  side 
of  the  fortress,  which  having  been  entered  in 
that  direction  by  Underbill  and  his  division, 
just  in  time,  they  found  themselves  between 
two  fires.  Their  only  refuge  then  was  to  at- 


STORMING  OF  FORT  MISTICK.  63 

tain  their  wigwams,  which  they  entered  in 
squads,  and  determined  to  defend.  Many 
severe  conflicts  of  small  parties  ensued,  in 
which  the  combatants  fought  with  equal  des 
peration.  In  the  spirited  lines  of  Dr.  Dwight, 
whose  muse  wept  over  the  destruction  of 
these  people  : — 

"  Undaunted  on  their  foes  they  fiercely  flew ; — 
As  fierce  the  dusky  warriors  crowd  the  fight ; — 
Despair  inspires ; — to  combat's  face  they  glue ; 
With  groans  and  shouts  they  rage,  unknowing  flight. 
And  close  their  sullen  eyes  in  shades  of  endless  night." 

In  these  separate  onslaughts  the  Pequods  were 
slain  in  large  numbers,  and  several  of  the 
English  fell  dead,  while  many  others  were 
wounded.  For  a  few  moments  the  conflict 
seemed  doubtful ;  when  Mason  boldly  entered 
one  of  the  wigwams,  and  snatching  a  blazing 
brand  from  the  fire,  applied  it  to  the  dry  and 
inflammable  materials  with  which  it  was 
covered.  While  the  leader  was  thus  engag 
ed,  an  Indian  would  have  transfixed  his  head 
with  an  arrow,  but  for  the  interposition  of  one 
of  his  subordinate  officers,  who  observing  the 
action,  promptly  sprang  forward  and  cut  the 
string  of  the  bow  with  his  sword.  The  expe- 


64«  LIFE    OF   UNCAS. 

dient  of  Mason  was  as  successful  as  it  was  fatal 
to  the  doomed  Pequods.  The  flames  spread  from 
hut  to  hut  in  rapid  succession  until  the  whole 
seventy  within  the  enclosure  were  in  a  living 
blaze  ;  the  English  retiring  without  the  walls 
as  they  extended.  Then  followed  a  scene  of 
wild  confusion  and  distress  seldom  paralleled 
in  a  community  of  no  greater  numbers.  Tak 
ing  courage  from  the  example  before  them, 
the  Mohegans  of  Uncas,  and  such  of  the  Nar- 
ragansetts  as  remained,  came  up  to  the  works 
and  formed  a  circular  line  close  to  the  rear  of 
the  English,  who  were  near  the  base  of  the 
pallisadoes.  It  does  not  appear  that  Uncas 
participated  in  the  timidity  of  his  followers. 
On  the  contrary,  he  exerted  himself  to  ani 
mate  them  to  the  battle,  and  acquitted  himself 
like  a  brave  and  fearless  man — sustaining  the 
evidence  afterward  given  in  his  behalf  by 
Major  Mason.  The  crackling  of  the  flames, 
mingling  with  the  wails  of  distress  from  those 
perishing  in  the  conflagration,  with  the  fatal 
discharges  of  the  English  musketry  upon  the 
poor  wretches  who  were  attempting  to  escape 
by  leaping  from  the  parapet,  presented,  alto 
gether,  a  scene  of  appalling  and  terrific  gran- 


THE    CONFLAGRATION.  65 

deur.*  The  area  within  the  walls  was  like  a 
sea  of  fire ;  and  as  the  sun  had  not  yet  risen, 
the  dimness  of  the  morning  twilight  was 
dissipated  by  the  lurid  light  of  the  flames. 
It  was  the  history  of  this  conflagration,  pro 
bably,  that  suggested  the  spirited  description 
of  a  similar,  though  an  imaginary  scene,  in 
the  beautiful  poem  of"  YAMOYDEN,"!  the  sub 
ject  of  which  was  the  wars  of  King  Philip  : — 

"  Swift  o'er  the  structure  climbs  the  fire  ; 
In  serpent  course  its  streams  aspire ; 
Entwined  about  their  crackling  prey, 
Aloft  they  shoot  with  spiral  way ; 
Wreathing  and  flashing  fiercely  round 
Their  glittering  net  was  mingling  wound 
O'er  all  the  pile;  but  soon  they  blended ; — 
One  mighty  volume  then  ascended, — 

*  "  The  fire,  by  the  advantage  of  the  wind,  carried 
all  before  it ;  and  such  horrible  confusion  overwhelmed 
the  salvages,  that  many  of  them  were  broiled  to  death  in 
the  revenging  flames ;  many  of  them  climbing  to  the 
top  of  the  pallizadozy  were  a  fair  mark  for  the  mortife- 
rous  bullets  there ;  and  many  of  them  that  had  the  re 
solution  to  issue  forth,  were  slain  by  the  English  that 
stood  ready  to  bid  'em  welcome." — Magnalia  Christi 
jUmericana. 

t  By  the  late  Rev.  James  W.  Eastburn,  and  his 
friend  the  late  Robert  C.  Sands. 
6* 


66  LIFE    OF   UNCAS. 

A  column  dense  of  mounting  flame  ; — 

Blacker  the  shrouded  heaven  became, 

And  like  substantial  darkness  frowned 

O'er  the  red  atmosphere ;  around 

The  fields  gave  back  the  unnatural  glare  ; — 

Lifting  their  ghostly  arms  in  air. 

Were  seen  those  trunks  all  bleak  and  bare ; 

At  distance  rose  the  giant  pine. 

Kindling  as  if  by  power  divine, 

Of  fire  a  living  tree  ; — 

While,  where  the  circling  forests  sweep, 

Each  varying  hue  of  bright  or  deep, 

Shone  as  if  raised  o'er  nature's  sleep, 

By  magic's  witchery ! 

Around  the  slaughtered,  in  their  hold, 

Stifling  in  vain  their  warriors  bold, 

Each  blazing  sconce  in  fury  sought, 

Pour'd  on  their  foe  their  deadly  shot ; 

Or,  in  mad  leaps  of  torture  broke, 

Through  sulphurous  fire  and  volumed  smoke ; — 

While  uproar,  flame,  and  deafening  yell, 

Made  the  scene  seem  the  vault  of  hell, 

Where,  writhing  wild  in  penance  dire, 

Fiends  danced  'mid  pyramids  of  fire !" 

Many  of  the  Pequods  attempted  to  force  their 
way  through  the  gates ;  but  if  their  flight  was 
not  intercepted  by  the  English,  they  were  for 
the  most  part  fallen  upon  by  Uncas  and  his 
Mohegans,  while  numbers  were  driven  back 


THE  SLAUGHTER.  67 

to  perish  miserably  in  their  "  burning  cells."* 
The  battle  was  ended  ere  the  sun  arose,  and 
never  since  his  beams  were  arrested  by  the  as 
cending  smoke  of  the  cities  of  the  plain,  did  the 
orb  of  light  shine  upon  a  scene  of  more  com 
plete  desolation.  From  six  to  eight  hundred 
Indians,  old  men  and  young,  women  and  child 
ren,  were  either  slain  by  the  sword,  or  con 
sumed  in  the  flames.f  Seven  only  escaped, 
and  the  same  number  were  made  prisoners  by 
the  English.  Eighteen  prisoners,  of  whom 
ten  were  males,  and  eight  females,  were  taken 
by  the  Mohegan  and  Narragansett  Indians. 
Four  of  the  males  were  disposed  of  to  as  many 

*  It  almost  chills  the  blood,  at  this  distant  day,  to 
contemplate  the  feelings  with  which  the  early  or  contem 
porary  New-England  writers,  in  their  religious  hatred 
of  the  Indians,  viewed  and  spoke  of  scenes  like  this. 
"  At  this  time  it  was  a  fearful  sight  to  see  them  thus 
frying  in  the  fire,  and  the  streams  of  blood  quenching 
the  same,  and  horrible  was  the  scent  thereof;  but  the 
victory  seemed  a  great  sacrifice,  and  they  gave  the 
praise  thereof  to  God,  who  had  wrought  so  wonderfully 
for  them,  thus  to  enclose  their  enemies  in  their  hands." 
— Morton's  Memorial. 

t  "In  a  little  more  than  one  hour  five  or  six  hundred 
of  these  barbarians  were  dismissed  from  a  world  that 
was  burdened  with  them.5* — Cotton  Mather. 


68  LIFE    OF    UNCAS. 

sachems,  the  other  six  were  slain.  Of  the 
females,  four  were  taken  to  Saybrook  and 
left  in  the  fort.  The  other  four  were  carried 
to  one  of  the  settlements,  where,  being  chal 
lenged  by  the  Indians  as  their  property,  they 
were  executed  to  end  the  dispute.  "  The 
policy  as  well  as  the  morality  of  this  proceed 
ing,"  says  Hutchinson,  with  great  simplicity, 
"  may  well  be  questioned  !"  I  should  think 
as  much. 

Such  was  the  result  of  the  first  action,  of 
note  fought  between  the  pilgrim  colonists  and 
the  American  aboriginals.  But  the  victors 
were  in  no  enviable  condition  after  the  battle. 
It  is  true  that  but  two  of  the  English  were 
killed  outright ;  but  twenty  of  their  number 
were  wounded,  several  of  them  severely, — 
the  heads  of  the  Indian  arrows  sticking  in 
their  flesh,  and  causing  great  agony.  Num 
bers  of  the  Mohegans  were  also  wounded. 
They  were  without  medical  assistance — both 
surgeon  and  supplies  having  remained  on 
board  the  vessels.*  But  providentially  the  lit- 

*  "  Sampson  was  not  in  much  greater  distress  by 
thirst,  after  his  exploit  upon  the  Philistines,  than  our 
friends  the  day  after  this  exploit  upon  the  Pequods." — 
Cotton  Mather. 


THE  RETURN.  69 

tie  fleet  hove  in  sight  within  an  hour  after  the 
engagement  Yet  to  gain  it  they  had  to 
march  a  distance  of  six  miles,  through  an  en 
emy's  country,  bearing  their  wounded  upon 
litters.  They  had  moved  no  great  distance 
before  a  body  of  three  hundred,  sent  out  by 
Sassacus  to  succor  the  garrison  at  Mistick, 
appeared  in  their  front.  To  oppose  these 
Mason  had  but  about  forty  effective  men  at 
his  disposition.  But  the  boldness  of  his 
movements,  and  the  spirit  of  his  attack,  com 
pelled  them  to  fall  back.  They  next  pro 
ceeded  to  the  ruins  of  the  fort,  on  beholding 
which  they  stamped,  and  tore  their  hair,  and 
raised  the  most  dismal  howls.*  Then  leap 
ing  down  the  hill  with  the  fury  of  demons, 
they  pursued  after  the  English,  and  would 
have  overrun  them  but  for  the  warm  recep 
tion  they  met  with  from  Captain  Underbill, 

*  «  When  they  came  to  see  the  ashes  of  their  friends 
mingled  with  the  ashes  of  the  fort,  and  the  bodies  of 
many  of  their  countrymen  so  terribly  barbikew'd,  where 
the  English  had  been  doing  a  good  morning's  work, 
they  howl'd,  they  roarM,  they  stamp'd,  and  were  the 
pictures  of  so  many  devils  in  desperation." — Cotton 
Mather. 


70  LIFE  OF    UNCAS. 

who  with  a  small  party  had  been  detached  to 
cover  the  inarch  to  the  vessels.  Still  the 
straggling  Pequods  were  lying  in  wait  at  ev 
ery  convenient  place,  and  annoyed  their 
progress  not  a  little,  although  none  of  the 
white  troops  were  killed  ;  while  the  Pequods 
themselves  lost  a  number  of  warriors  in  these 
affairs,  whose  heads  were  immediately  brought 
in  by  the  flying  forces  of  Uncas.  In  the  end 
Mason  and  his  party,  including  his  Indian  al 
lies,  who  dared  not  remain  in  the  Pequod 
country,  were  safely  embarked  on  board  their 
transports ;  and  in  three  weeks  from  the  time 
of  their  departure  from  Hartford  the  expedi 
tion  returned  in  triumph,  having  indeed  ac 
complished  measures  of  great  importance  to 
the  colonies,  and  considering  the  smallness  of 
the  force  employed,  and  the  numbers  and  fe 
rocious  courage  of  the  enemy,  achieved  a  vic 
tory  not  a  little  creditable  both  to  the  skill  and 
bravery  of  the  citizen  soldiers.  Their  welcome 
was  as  earnest  as  brave  men  desire  after  a 
hazardous  enterprise,  and  their  arrival  was 
celebrated  by  public  thanks  to  that  Provi 
dence  which  had  preserved  the  lives  of  so 
many  and  crowned  their  arms  with  success. 
In  consideration  of  his  good  conduct  in  this 


FALL  OF  SASSACUS.  71 

battle,  his  majesty  King  Charles  I.  sent  Uncas 
"  a  Bible  to  show  him  the  way  to  Heaven,  and 
a  sword  to  defend  him  from  his  enemies.*" 

The  destruction  of  the  Mistick  Fort,  and 
the  slaughter  of  its  garrison,  were  the  prelude 
to  the  fall  of  Sassacus.  On  the  return  of  the 

*  MS.  letter  from  Colonel  Joseph  Tracy,  of  Nor 
wich,  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  in  the  author's  pos 
session.  Mr.  Tracy  added,  that  "  the  Mohegans  had 
the  keeping  of  them  until  this  day."  In  regard  to 
Wequash,  who  appears  to  have  stood  firm  during  the 
fight,  Cotton  Mather  makes  the  following  interesting 
record  : — "  E'er  we  pass  any  further,  we  will  take  this 
place  to  commemorate  famous  Wequash.  Know,  reader? 
that  after  this  battel  Wequash  had  his  mind  wonder 
fully  struck  with  great  apprehensions  about  the  Eng 
lishman's  God ;  and  he  went  about  the  colony  of  Con. 
necticut  with  bitter  lamentations,  that  he  did  not  know 
Jesus  Christy  until  the  good  people  there  instructed  him. 
When  he  had  understood  and  embraced  the  Christian 
religion,  he  made  a  most  exemplary  profession  of  it. 
He  reformed  all  his  former  ways  of  sin  and  lust,  and 
with  prodigious  patience  bore  a  thousand  injuries  from 
the  other  Indians  for  his  profession,  while  he  went  up 
and  down  preaching  Christ.  At  last  the  Indians  mur 
dered  him,  and  poisoned  him  for  his  religion."  "  We 
quash,  the  famous  Indian  at  the  river's  mouthy  is  dead, 
and  certainly  in  Heaven.  Gloriously  did  the  grace  of 
Christ  shine  forth  in  his  conversation  a  year  and  a  half 
before  his  death,"  &c. — Shepherd, 


72  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

three  hundred  to  the  royal  fortress,  they  up 
braided  their  master  for  his  misconduct,  and 
charged  this  great  calamity  upon  his  haughty 
carriage  and  injustice.  Indeed,  but  for  the 
intercession  of  personal  friends  among  his 
chiefs  and  warriors,  his  accusers  would  have 
taken  his  life.  The  blow  had  been  as  severe 
as  it  was  unexpected  ;  and  so  greatly  had  the 
nation  been  weakened  by  the  slaughter,  that 
upon  consultation  it  was  believed  that  they 
would  not  be  able  to  retain  their  country 
against  the  arms  of  the  English.  Sassacus 
accordingly  broke  down  his  remaining  fort, 
burned  the  wig-warns  of  his  towns,  and  chiefs 
and  people  resolved  to  flee  from  their  homes, 
and  the  graves  of  their  ancestors,  and  seek 
for  new  abodes  toward  the  west.  The  im 
perious  Sassacus  himself,  with  his  favorite 
Sachem  Mononotto,  and  seventy  or  eighty 
chiefs  and  warriors,  directed  his  course  to 
ward  the  Hudson  river,  with  a  view  of  find 
ing  a  home  among  the  Mohawks.  The 
goods  carried  off  by  them  were  estimated, 
according  to  the  journal  of  Governor  Win-" 
throp,  at  five  hundred  pounds  value.  So 
large  a  prize  awakened  the  cupidity  of  the 
Mohawks,  and  the  great  Pequod  Sachem  was 


DEATH  OF  SASSACUS.  73 

treacherously  murdered  by  them,  with  twenty 
of  his  followers.* 

*  Drake  quotes  the  following  spirited  lines  from  the 
poem  of  "  Yamoyden,"  on  the  flight  and  death  of 
Ssssacus: — 

i(  And  Sassa-co-us,  now  no  more. 

Lord  of  a  thousand  bowmen  fled ; 

And  all  the  chiefs,  his  boast  before, 

Were  mingled  with  theunhonored  dead. 

Sannup  and  Sagamore  were  slain, 

On  Mystic's  banks,  in  one  red  night ; 

The  once  far-dreaded  King  in  vain 

Sought  safety  in  inglorious  flight ; 

And  reft  of  all  his  regal  pride 

By  the  fierce  Maqua's  hand  he  died." 
The  Mohawks  were  called  (  Maquas'  by  the  Dutch. 
Some  writers  have  questioned  the  fact  whether  Sassa- 
cus  was  murdered  at  all,  'expressing  a  belief  that  he 
obtained  a  residence  among  the  Mohawks  ;  but  Win- 
throp's  Journal,  under  date  of  August  5,  1637,  settles 
that  point.  "  Mr.  Hooker  and  Mr.  Stone  came,  with 
Mr.  Wilson,  from  Connecticut,  by  Providence ;  and  the 
same  day  Mr.  Ludlow,  Mr.  Pincheon,  and  about 
twelve  more,  came  by  land  from  Connecticut,  and 
brought  with  them  a  part  of  the  skin,  and  a  lock  of 
hair  of  Sassacus,  and  his  brother,  and  five  other  Pe- 
quod  Sachems,  who,  having  fled  for  shelter  to  the 
Mohawks,  were  by  them  surprised  and  slain,  with 
twenty  of  their  best  men."  Cotton  Mather  suggests 
that  the  Mohawks  were  induced  to  murder  Sassacus 
by  the  Narragansetts. 
7 


74-  LIFE  OF  TJNCAS. 

In  the  preceding  narrative  of  the  conquest 
of  the  Pequod  territory,  Massachusetts  and  her 
forces  have  almost  been  forgotten.  Captain 
Patrick,  "  with  his  forty,"  was  left  at  Provi 
dence,  eager  to  join  the  forces  of  Mason  ;  but 
being  delayed  by  contrary  winds  in  descend 
ing  the  Providence  river,  he  did  not  reach  the 
town  of  Canonicus  until  it  was  altogether  too 
late  to  take  part  in  the  campaign.  Placing 
his  men  on  board  of  Mason's  vessels,  how 
ever,  Patrick  joined  that  officer  on  his  em 
barkation  from  the  destruction  of  Mistick. 
But  his  behavior  toward  Mason  was  offensive? 
and  he  was  sent  back,  with  the  few  Narra- 
gansetts  who  had  not  previously  deserted,  to 
Miantonomoh.  This  wayward  chief, — who, 
it  has  already  been  observed,  went  not  upon 
the  war-path  with  Mason, — now  that  the  Pe- 
quods  had  been  vanquished  in  the  pride  of 
their  strength,  and  the  spirits  of  those  that  re 
mained  crushed,  immediately  united  with  Pat 
rick,  and  they  together  swept  through  the 
Pequod  country  to  Saybrook.  Meantime 
the  news  of  Mason's  victory  created  the  most 
lively  joy  on  its  arrival  at  Boston ;  and  the 
0-overnment  of  Massachusetts  immediatelv 


THE  PRISONERS.  75 

sent  forward  a  detachment  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  men,  under  Captain  Stoughton. 
Arriving  at  Pequod  harbor  toward  the  close 
of  June,  Stoughton,  aided  by  the  Narragan- 
setts,  was  enabled  to  surround  a  considerable 
body  of  the  Pequods  who  had  sought  refuge 
in  a  swamp.  Eighty  captives  were  taken,  of 
whom  thirty  were  men.  These  latter,  with 
the  exception  of  two  Sachems,  who  promised 
to  conduct  the  English  to  Sassacus,  were 
killed ;  the  women  and  children  were  spared.* 

*  Drake  quotes  from  the  archives  of  Massachusetts, 
a  manuscript  letter  from  Stoughton  to  Governor  Win- 
throp,  written  at  this  time  from  Pequocl  river,  thus  : — 
"  By  this  pinnace  you  shall  receive  forty-eight  or  fifty 
women  and  children,  unless  there  stay  any  here  to  be 
helpful,  &c.  Concerning  which  there  is  one  I  formerly 
mentioned,  that  is  the  fairest  and  the  largest  that  I 
saw  amongst  them,  to  whom  I  have  given  a  coate  to 
cloathe  her.  It  is  my  desire  to  have  her  for  a  servant, 
if  it  may  stand  with  your  good  liking,  else  not.  There 
is  a  little  squaw  that  Steward  Colicut  desireth,  to 
whom  he  hath  given  a  coate.  Lieutenant  Davenport 
also  desireth  one  to  wit,  a  small  one,  that  hath  three 
strokes  upon  her  stomach,  thus  111+.  He  desireth 
her,  if  it  will  stand  with  your  good  liking.  Sosomon, 
the  Indian,  desireth  a  young  little  squaw,  which  I 
know  not." 


76  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

On  reaching  Saybrook,  Stoughton's  forces 
were  joined  by  Major  Mason  with  forty 
men  from  Hartford,  and  it  was  determined  to 
push  forward  coastwise  in  pursuit  of  the  fugi 
tive  Pequods.  The  Massachusetts  and  Con 
necticut  troops  went  round  to  Quinnipiack, 
(New  Haven,)  by  water,  while  Uncas  with 
his  Mohegans  scoured  the  shores,  and  drove 
such  bands  of  the  enemy  as  were  lurking 
about  the  bays  and  inlets,  from  place  to 
place.*  He  overtook  a  small  party  of  them 
at  Menunkatuck,  (Guilford,)  at  no  great  dis 
tance  from  what  has  since  been  called  Sa 
chem's  Head  harbor.  The  eastern  side  of 
the  harbor  is  formed  by  a  long  narrow  point 
of  land,  upon  which  the  Pequods  were  driven 
in  the  pursuit  that  ensued  instantly  on  their 
discovery.  Upon  the  eastern  side  of  the  point 
is  a  little  basin  or  cove,  into  which  the  Pe 
quods,  the  pursuit  being  very  close,  plunged, 
in  the  hope  of  making  their  escape  ;  but  Un 
cas  had  anticipated  the  movement,  and  they 
were  taken  as  they  landed  on  the  other  side 

*  "  There  was  yet  work  for  them  to  do/'  says  Cotton 
Mather  of  this  pursuit.  "  We  have  sometimes  read  of 
a  gleaning  as  good  as  a  vintage." 


THE  PURSUIT.  77 

the  narrow  entrance  of  the  cove,  and  instant 
ly  put  to  death — their  bodies  being  cast  into 
the  water — from  which  circumstance  the 
place  is  called  "  the  bloody  cove"  to  this  day. 
The  Sachem  of  the  hapless  fugitives  being 
taken,  he  was  condemned  to  death,  and  Uncas 
himself  executed  the  sentence,  by  shooting 
him  with  an  arrow.  Striking  off  the  deceased 
chieftain's  head,  Uncas  placed  it  high  in  the 
crotch  of  an  oak  tree  near  the  harbor,  where 
the  skull  remained  many  years.  Hence  the 
name  of  "  SACHEM'S  HEAD."* 

On  their  arrival  at  Quinnipiack,  Mason 
and  Stoughton  ascertained  that  the  Pequods, 
to  the  number  of  nearly  three  hundred,  with 
some  two  or  three  hundred  other  Indians,  col 
lected  from  different  tribes  and  clans,  had 
taken  refuge  in  a  swamp  in  Fairfield,  called 
Sasco.  Thither  they  were  pursued,  and  vari 
ous  efforts  made  to  dislodge  them  from  their 
tangled  retreat;  but  the  swamp  was  so 
miry,  and  the  slough  so  deep,  that  the  Eng- 

*  MS.  History  of  Guilford,  written  by  the  Rev.  Tho 
mas  Ruggles,  D.  D.  in  1765,  in  the  author's  posses 
sion.  A  part  of  this  history,  and  only  a  part,  has  been 
published  in  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections. 

7* 


78  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

lish  could  not  enter  it  without  imminent  ha 
zard  and  great  difficulty.  A  party  attempting 
to  enter  the  swamp,  under  Lieutenant  Daven 
port,  was  repulsed  with  loss.  A  cordon  was 
then  drawn  around  the  swamp  so  as  to  pre 
vent  ingress  or  egress,  whereupon  the  Indians 
desired  a  parley,  which  was  granted.  Un 
willing  to  shed  the  blood  of  those  who  had 
not  previously  participated  in  the  war,  life 
was  offered  to  all  who  had  not  fought  against 
the  English.  Under  this  proposition  the  Sa 
chem  of  the  place,  with  his  men,  women,  and 
children,  to  the  number  of  two  hundred,  came 
forth  and  all  were  spared.  But  the  Pequods, 
true  to  their  haughty  character,  refused  to  sur 
render,  declaring  that  they  would  fight  to  the 
end.  Hostilities  were  thereupon  renewed ; 
but  owing  to  some  dissensions  among  the  as 
sailants  as  to  the  best  mode  of  attack,  many 
of  the  Indians  succeeded  in  effecting  their  es 
cape.  Toward  night,  by  cutting  a  passage 
across  a  narrow  peninsula,  the  circumference 
occupied  by  the  Indians  was  greatly  dimin 
ished,  and  it  was  hoped  on  the  following  day 
to  carry  the  place ,  but  early  on  the  next 
morning,  a  thick  fog  came  on,  operating 


BATTLE  OF  THE  SWAMP.  79 

greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  besieged. 
Availing  themselves  of  this  misty  covering, 
they  made  a  desperate  attempt  to  cut  their 
way  through  the  troops  of  Captain  Patrick, 
yelling  hideously,  and  dealing  their  blows 
thick  and  fast.  Mason  hastened  to  the  as 
sistance  of  Patrick,  and  the  savages  were 
driven  back  ;  but  their  assaults  were  renewed 
at  other  points  with  so  much  vigor  that  sixty 
or  seventy  of  their  bravest  warriors  succeeded 
in  effecting  their  escape.  Twenty  were 
killed,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty  taken 
prisoners.* 

Thus  closed  the  regular  campaign  against 
the  fiercest  nation  of  the  New  England  In- 

*  «  Heaven  so  smiled  upon  the  English  hunting  of 
them,  that  here  and  there  whole  companies  of  them 
were  by  the  intimations  of  the  other  Indians  tre 
panned  into  the  hunters'  hands;  particularly  at  one 
time,  several  hundreds  of  them  were  surprised  by  Cap 
tain  Stoughton  with  little  opposition,  who,  sending 
away  the  females  and  children  as  captives,  put  the  men 
on  board  a  vessel  of  one  Skipper  Gallop,  which  proved 
a  Charon's  ferry  boat  unto  them,  for  it  was  found  the 
quickest  way  to  feed  the  fishes  with  5em." — Magnolia 
Christi  Americana.  Hubbard  states  that  the  number 
that  Stoughton  caused  to  be  drowned  thus,  "  a  little 
without  the  harbour,"  was  thirty-seven. 


80  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

dians.  Yet  the  Mohegans  and  Narragansetts 
continued  to  fall  upon  such  of  their  scatter 
ing  parties  as  were  discovered,  the  heads  of 
whom  were  sent  in  to  the  civil  authorities  at 
Hartford  and  Windsor.  Indeed  the  poor  Pe- 
quods,  as  Major  Mason  remarks  in  his  own 
history,  "  now  became  a  prey  to  all  Indians  : 
happy  were  they  that  could  bring  in  the., 
heads  to  the  English !"  A  few  of  them  were 
hunted  to  such  extremities,  that  they  came 
forth  to  the  settlements  and  threw  themselves 
upon  the  mercy  of  the  colonists.  The  female 
prisoners  and  children  were  divided  among 
the  soldiers,  and  numbers  of  them  were  sent 
to  the  West  Indies  and  sold  as  slaves.* 
Among  the  prisoners  were  the  wife  and 
children  of  Mononotto,  the  chief  next  in  rank 
to  Sassacus.  This  woman  was  noted  for  her 
modesty  and  humanity  ;  and  in  consideration 
of  some  former  acts  of  kindness  extended  by 
her  to  certain  white  female  prisoners  in  the 
hands  of  her  people,  she  was  sent  to  Gover 
nor  Wmthrop,  in  Boston,  by  whom  she  was 

*  (<  We  sent  fifteen  boys  and  two  women  to  Bermu 
da  by  Mr.  Pierce ;  but  he  missing  it,  carried  them  to 
[New]  Providence  Isle." — Winthrop's  Journal. 


THE  FUGITIVES.  81 

treated  with  great  tenderness.*  About  two 
hundred  of  the  Pequods  were  yet  prisoners 
among  the  Mohegans  and  Narragansetts. 
At  the  request  of  the  Magistrates  Uncas  and 
Miantonomoh  repaired  with  these  unfortunate 
people  to  Hartford,  where  they  were  appor- 
+:~ned,  one  hundred  to  Uncas,  eighty  to  Mi 
antonomoh,  and  twenty  to  Ninigret,  chief  of 
the  Nahantics.  The  design  was  that  they 
should  be  merged  in  the  tribes  of  those  chief 
tains  respectively.  They  were  forbidden 
ever  after  to  appropriate  to  themselves  the 
name  of  Pequods,  or  to  reside  in  their  own 
country.  Such,  at  least,  according  to  Ma 
jor  Mason,  and  also  the  laborious  and  gen 
erally  accurate  Trumbull,  was  the  disposi 
tion  made  of  the  Pequod  remnants,  and  such 

*  Mononotto  fled  to  the  Mohawks  with  Sassacus,  and 
was  wounded  in  the  battle  between  that  people  and 
the  fugitives,  by  whom  his  chieftain  was  slain.  Escap 
ing,  wounded  thus  from  tthe  Mohawks,  Drake  suppos 
es  he  was  afterward  put  to  death  by  English  hands. 
The  authority  for  this  supposition  I  have  not  seen. 
The  name  of  Mononotto's  wife  was  Wincumwane,  and 
it  is  related  of  her  that  she  saved  one  of  the  colonists, 
while  the  Indians  were  preparing  to  take  her  life,  in  a 
manner  as  disinterested,  if  not  heroic,  as  that  of  Poca- 
hontas,  when  she  interposed  to  save  the  life  of  Captain 
Smith. 


82  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

the  decree  respecting  them.  And  yet  no  lit 
tle  difficulty  is  encountered  in  attempting  to 
reconcile  the  statements,  as  to  this  point  of 
history,  put  forth  by  contemporaneous  writ 
ers.  By  some  it  was  asserted  that  both  Un- 
cas  and  Miantonomoh  exerted  themselves  at 
the  close  of  the  war,  to  befriend  the  fugitives, 
and  "  to  screen  them  from  their  more  vin 
dictive  enemies."  Drake  conjectures  that 
"  when  Uncas  saw  them  vanquished,  he  pro 
bably  began  to  relent  his  unprovoked  severi 
ty  toward  his  countrymen,  many  of  whom 
were  his  near  relations."  At  all  events,  it 
appears  that  early  in  the  Spring  succeeding 
the  war,  Uncas  had  in  some  way  given  um 
brage  to  the  Massachusetts  government,  in 
connection  with  these  Pequod  remnants,  for 
the  explanation  or  adjustment  of  which  diffi 
culty  he  proceeded  to  Boston,  accompanied 
by  Mr.  Haynes,  one  of  the  leading  men  of 
Hartford3  and  thirty-seven  Mohegan  warri 
ors.  Winthrop's  journal  contains  the  follow 
ing  entry  upon  the  subject : — "  He  tendered 
the  Governor  a  present  of  twenty  fathoms  of 
wampum.  This  was  at  court,  and  it  was 
thought  fit  by  the  council  to  refuse  it,  till  he 


VISITS  BOSTON.     /  83 

had  given  satisfaction  about  the  Pequods  he 
kept,  &c.  Upon  this  he  was  much  dejected, 
and  made  an  account  we  would  have  killed 
him  ;  but,  two  days  afterward,  having  receiv 
ed  good  satisfaction  of  his  innocency,  &c., 
and  he  promising  to  submit  to  the  order  of 
the  English  touching  the  Pequods  he  had, 
and  the  difference  between  the  Narragansetts 
and  him,  we  accepted  his  present.  About 
half  an  hour  after  he  carne  to  the  Governor, 
and  laying  his  hand  upon  his  breast,  made 
the  following  speech  : — 

" c  This  heart  is  not  mine,  but  yours.  I 
have  no  men :  they  are  all  yours.  Com 
mand  me  any  difficult  thing,  I  will  do  it.  I 
will  not  believe  any  Indian's  word  against 
the  English.  If  any  man  shall  kill  an  Eng 
lishman,  I  will  put  him  to  death  were  he  ever 
so  dear  to  me.'  ' 

Whatever  might  have  been  the  difficulty 
between  the  parties, — and  its  precise  nature 
does  not  appear, — the  matter  was  amicably 
adjusted.  Uncas  was  furnished  with  "  a  fair 
red  coat,"  and  after  he  and  his  warriors  had 
been  liberally  regaled,  they  departed  "  very 
joyful."  Beyond  doubt  the  remaining  Pequods 


84*  LIKE    OF   UNCAS. 

were  disposed  of  in  some  manner  among  the 
Mohegans  and  Narragansetts.  Their  nation 
was  extinguished,  or  directed  to  be  extin 
guished,  by  law;  even  the  name  of  their 
beautiful  river,  it  was  decided  by  the  council 
of  the  pale-faces,  should  be  changed  from 
Pequod  to  Thames;  and  the  town  of  Pequod, 
where  Sassacus  held  his  dusky  court,  was 
called  New-London, — the  new  name  being 
conferred  as  a  testimony  of  the  love  the  colo 
nists  bore  their  parent  country.  Such,  more 
over,  was  the  terror  with  which  their  fate 
inspired  the  other  Indian  nations,  that  the 
colonies,  as  between  themselves  and  those 
people,  enjoyed  peace  for  nearly  forty  years. 
Nevertheless,  the  rule  of  the  Mohegans  over 
the  Pequod  fugitives  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  of  the  mildest  character ;  nor  did  the 
captives  become  speedily  interblended  with 
their  conquerors.  On  the  contrary  it  appears 
that  within  two  years  afterward,  a  conside 
rable  number  of  them,  in  direct  contravention 
of  the  stipulations  at  Hartford,  had  collected 
and  replanted  themselves  in  the  country  late 
their  own,  in  such  numbers  as  to  require 
another  military  demonstration  to  dislodge 


SKIRMISH  WITH  THE  PEQUODS.  85 

them.  Their  settlement  was  at  Pawcatuck 
Bay,*  and  in  1639,  Captain,  or  rather  Major 
Mason,  was  sent  against  them  at  the  head  of 
forty  men,  with  instructions  "  to  drive  them 
away,  burn  their  wigwams,  and  bring  off* 
their  corn."  Uncas,  with  one  hundred  of  his 
Mohegans,  and  twenty  canoes,  assisted  in  the 
enterprise.  The  doomed  Pequods  were  taken  by 
surprise,  and  fled  with  such  precipitation  as  to 
be  unable  to  carry  away  either  goods  or  corn. 
They  however  attempted  to  rally  and  make 
a  descent  upon  Uncas  and  his  warriors,  while 
the  latter  were  engaged  in  plundering  their 
tenements.  A  smart  skirmish  ensued  between 
the  two  Indian  parties,  from  which  the  Eng 
lish  stood  entirely  aloof.  It  was,  however,  a 
drawn  battle,  or  rather  melee,  the  affair  not 
aspiring  to  the  dignity  of  a  battle,  in  which, 
although  several  were  wounded,  no  lives 
were  lost.  Seven  prisoners  were  taken  ;  but 
these  were  released  at  the  intercession  of 
Otash,  a  Narragansett  chief,  and  brother  of 
Miantonomoh.  On  the  following  morning  a 
force  of  some  three  hundred  Indians  appeared, 
to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  Pequods;  but 
*  Now  Stonington. 


86  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

after  a  few  threats,  a  parley  ensued,  which 
ended  in  the  retirement  of  the  Indians. 
Mason  then  completed  the  work  of  destruc 
tion  upon  which  he  was  commissioned,  and 
returned  to  Hartford. 

The  subjugation  of  the  Pequods  and  the 
part  borne  by  Uncas  during  the  war 
added  much  to  his  importance.  Being,  as 
has  been  already  said,  a  Pequod  himself, 
and  of  the  royal  lineage,  he  laid  claim 
to  their  country  by  right  of  conquest.  This 
claim  was  recognized  by  the  English,  and 
the  lands  were  accordingly  added  to  his  ter 
ritory.  Other  clans  and  tribes,  moreover, 
gathered  round  him,  and  his  numerical 
strength  was  increased  in  proportion  to  the 
augmentation  of  his  dominions.  The  fall  of 
the  Pequods  likewise  wrought  other  changes 
in  the  Indian  relations  of  the  country,  since 
the  Sachems,  who  had  been  tributaries  to 
Sassacus,  released  from  the  thrall  of  that 
haughty  chief,  now  asserted  their  rights  as 
independent  sovereigns ;  and  the  colonists, 
desiring  to  deal  justly  and  truly  with  the 
natives,  felt  themselves  obliged  not  only  to 
purchase  the  lands  they  proposed  to  occupy, 
of  Uncas,  but  also,  in  many  instances,  to  buy 


TREATY  AT  HARTFORD.  87 

them  a  second  time,  of  the  minor  Sachems 
claiming  particular  localities.  Hence  in  the 
early  records  of  Connecticut  involving  pur 
chases  of  land,  the  name  of  Uncas  is  of 
frequent  occurrence.*  In  the  year  after  the 
Pequod  war,  he  was  at  Hartford,  and  entered 
into  articles  of  agreement  with  the  colony, 
by  virtue  of  which  all  disputes  between  him 
self  and  other  Indian  nations  were  in  the  first 
instance  to  be  submitted  to  the  consideration 
of  the  Colonial  Council.  Two  years  after 
ward,  viz.  in  1640,  a  treaty  was  negotiated 
with  him  at  Colchester,  granting  to  the  Gov 
ernor  and  Magistrates  of  the  colony  on  the 
Connecticut  river,  all  his  lands,  called  by 

*  It  was  ever  the  desire  of  the  colony  of  Connecti 
cut  to  deal  with  the  Indians  with  justice  and  humanity* 
notwithstanding  the  apparent  harshness  of  feeling  ma 
nifested  toward  them  by  the  early  writers,  as  has  been 
seen  in  the  preceding  notes.  The  following  entry  in 
Winthrop's  Journal,  Oct.  16,  1640,  illustrates  the  as 
sertion- 1  have  made  : — "  The  General  Court  of  Mas 
sachusetts  received  a  letter  from  the  Magistrates  of 
Connecticut,  New-Haven  and  Aquidneck,  (Rhode  Isl 
and,)  wherein  they  declared  their  dislike  of  such  as 
would  have  the  Indians  rooted  out,  as  being  the  cursed 
race  of  Ham ;  and  their  desire  of  our  mutual  accord,  in 
seeking  to  gain  them  by  justice  and  kindness." 


88  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

whatever  name,  reserving  only  the  ground 
then  planted  by  him,  for  himself  and  the 
Mohegans.  In  the  year  following  he  con 
cluded  another  treaty  with  William  Leete 
and  his  associates,  the  planters  of  Guilford, 
conveying  to  them  the  region  of  territory  be 
tween  Hammonasset  and  the  East  river,  now 
forming  the  town  of  Madison,  but  known 
until  within  the  last  twenty  years  as  East 
Guilford.*  His  admitted  right  to  convey  this 
territory  shows  that  he  had  extended  his 
conquests  over  a  considerable  section  of  the 
country  west  of  the  Connecticut  river ;  as  far 
as  the  present  town  of  Branford,  according 
some  to  authorities. 

As  the  colonists  were  now  rapidly  increas 
ing  in  numbers,  and  their  settlements  extend 
ing  fa\  greater  and  yet  greater  distances  from 
each  other,  a  confederation  of  the  several 
colonies  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New- 
Haven  and  Plymouth,  for  the  purposes  of 
mutual  counsel  and  defence,  was  suggested 
as  early  as  the  year  1638.  Restlessness 
among  the  Indians  gave  occasional  uneasiness 
to  the  people  of  all  the  colonies,  while  those 

*  MS.  History  of  Guilford,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Ruggles. 


UNION  OF  THE  COLONIES.  89 

of  Connecticut,  in  particular,  found  additional 
cause  of  concern  in  the  conduct  of  the  Dutch 
authorities  of  New-Amsterdam,  who  had 
early  established  a  fortified  trading-post  at 
Hartford,  and  were  preferring  claims  to  ter 
ritory  in  that  region  which  could  not  be  re 
cognized  by  the  English  settlers.  Hence  for 
their  mutual  protection  against  enemies  native 
or  foreign,  as  well  as  for  the  prevention  of 
jealousies  among  each  other,  "  a  bond  of 
amity  and  peace"  was  judged  advisable;  but 
the  articles  were  not  definitively  agreed  upon 
until  the  spring  of  1643.*  This  union  wTas 
not  formed  a  moment  too  soon :  for  by  this 
time  strong  reasons  existed  for  believing  that 
Miantonomoh,  the  heir  apparent  of  the  Nar- 
ragansetts,  who  had  held  the  reins  of  govern 
ment  during  the  declining  years  of  Canonicus, 
his  uncle,  was  conspiring  as  Powhatan  had 
done  in  Virginia  thirty-three  years  before, 
and  as  Philip  did  in  New-England  thirty 
years  afterward,  to  compass  the  extermina- 

*  "  They  refused  to  admit  Rhode  Island  into  the  con 
federacy,  most  probably  at  the  instigation  of  Massa 
chusetts,  between  whom  and  Rhode  Island  there  was 
continual  jealousy." — Potter — Rhode  Island  Hist.  Coll. 

8* 


90  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

tion  of  the  English  colonies.  Miantonomoh 
was  a  chief  of  noble  appearance,  great  in 
stature,  stern  in  his  aspect,  and  as  subtle  in 
his  designs  as  he  was  haughty  in  his  carriage 
and  cruel  in  his  disposition.*  It  must  be  re 
membered  that  the  early  impulses  of  Canoni- 
cus  were  for  making  war  upon  the  infant 
colony  of  Plymouth,  he  having  been  deterred 
only  by  the  resolute  answer  returned  to  his 
belligerent  message.  It  now  appeared  that 
notwithstanding  his  alliance  with  the  colo 
nists  against  the  Pequods,  he  had  only  hated 
the  latter  more  than  he  did  the  former ;  since 
information  was  received  in  Boston,  in  the 
autumn  of  1642,  from  several  sources  almost 
simultaneously,  that  he  was  then  combining 
the  Indians  in  a  general  league  for  the  extir 
pation  by  massacre  of  all  the  English  settle 
ments.  The  design  was  not  to  make  open 
war ;  but  by  a  well-concerted  arrangement, 
the  Indians  in  sufficient  numbers  were  to  in 
troduce  themselves  into  every  English  settle 
ment  and  plantation,  under  the  pretext  of 

*  "  Stern  and  cruel,  causing  all  his  nobility  and  at. 
tendants  to  tremble  at  his  presence.35 — Johnson's  Won- 
der-Workynge  Providence. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  MIANTONOMOH.  91 

trading  with  the  people,  and,  at  a  given  sig 
nal,  all  the  whites  were  to  have  been  put  to 
death.  The  like  intelligence  was  conveyed 
to  the  civil  authorities  of  Plymouth,  New- 
Haven,  and  Connecticut,  and  so  certain  were 
they  of  its  truth,  that  they  urged  it  upon 
Massachusetts  to  anticipate  the  movement 
by  making  immediate  war  upon  the  Narra- 
gansetts,  promising  that  the  Massachusetts 
forces  should  be  joined  at  Saybrook  by  a 
proportionate  number  from  Hartford.  The 
General  Court  of  Massachusetts  was  convened 
upon  the  occasion,  and  the  Indians  nearest 
their  settlements,  who  in  their  traffic  with 
English  traders  in  the  East,  with  the  French 
in  Canada,  and  with  the  Dutch  of  the  New- 
Netherlands,  had  by  this  time  very  generally 
furnished  themselves  with  fire-arms,  were  dis 
armed.  "  A  constant  watch  was  ordered  to 
be  kept  from  sun-set  to  sun-rising,  and  a 
place  of  retreat  to  be  provided  in  each  plan 
tation,  for  the  women  and  children,  and  for 
the  security  of  ammunition.  Beacons  were 
erected  and  ordered  to  be  fired  upon  an  alarm, 
and  every  smith  was  required  to  lay  aside  all 
other  business  until  the  arms  in  the  colony 


92  LIFE    OF   UNCAS. 

were  put  into  good  order."*  Mlantonomoh 
was  moreover  ordered  to  Boston,  to  undergo 
an  examination  in  relation  to  the  charges. 
He  obeyed  the  summons  promptly,  accompa 
nied  by  a  retinue  of  his  chiefs.  But  if  at  that 
time  guilty, — and  subsequent  disclosures  left 
no  doubt  of  the  fact  upon  the  minds  of  the 
Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies, — he 
had  nevertheless  concerted  his  measures  so 
discreetly,  and  he  demeaned  himself  so  wisely 
on  his  examination,  as  to  leave  the  Massa 
chusetts  authorities  no  sufficient  excuse  for 
his  detention.  He  denied  the  charges  in  toto, 
and  demanded  to  be  confronted  face  to  face 
with  his  accusers.  "  He  was  very  deliberate 
in  his  answers,"  says  Hubbard,  "  showing  a 
good  understanding  in  the  principles  of  just 
ice  and  equity,  as  well  as  a  seeming  inge 
nuity  withal.  But  though  his  words  were 
smoother  than  oil,  yet,  as  many  conceived,  in 
his  heart  were  drawn  swords.  It  was  observ 
ed  also  that  he  would  never  speak  but  when 
some  of  his  counsellors  were  present,  that  they 
might,  as  he  said,  bear  witness  of  all  his 
speeches  at  their  return  home."  The  charges 
*  Hutchinson. 


PLOTS  OF  MIANTONOMOH.  93 

not  being  sustained  with  sufficient  certainty 
to  warrant  the  shedding  of  blood,  the  chief 
was  dismissed ;  and  he  returned  to  his  own 
home.*  Yet  the  people  of  Connecticut  were 
by  no  means  satisfied  with  the  result  of  the 
examination  ;  they  put  little  confidence  in  his 
protestations  ;  and  it  was  only  with  difficulty 
that  Massachusetts  was  enabled  to  restrain 
them  from  making  war  against  the  Narragan- 
setts  on  their  own  account,  independently  of 
the  league. 

Connected  with  these  embryo  movements 
of  Miantonomoh  were  transactions  of  yet 
greater  importance,  considered  in  their  bear 
ing  upon  the  life  of  Uncas,  and  in  regard  to 
which  there  has  been  no  small  degree  of  con 
troversy  ;  conducted,  for  the  most  part,  with 
a  design  to  disparage  the  character  of  this 

*  "  On  dismissing  the  complaint,  the  arms  of  the  In 
dians,  taken  from  them  as  stated  in  a  preceding  page, 
were  restored.  "Although  we  saw  that  it  was  very 
dangerous  to  us  that  they  should  have  guns,  &c.,  yet 
we  saw  not  in  justice  how  we  could  take  them  away, 
seeing  they  came  lawfully  by  them,  by  trade  with  the 
French  and  Dutch.  Therefore  we  thought  it  better  to 
trust  God  with  our  safety,  than  to  save  ourselves  by  un 
righteousness." — Winthrop's  Journal. 


94  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

extraordinary  man,  and  unjustly  to  exalt  that 
of  his  rival.  These  transactions  are  now  ap 
proached  in  the  regular  order  of  history.  If, 
as  the  weight  of  historical  testimony  satisfac 
torily  proves,  Miantonomoh  was  plotting  the 
destruction  of  the  colonies,  the  fast  and  un 
compromising  friendship  of  Uncas  for  the  lat 
ter  was  a  formidable  obstacle  in  his  way. 
Indeed  according  to  the  evidence  of  Lion 
Gardiner,  during  one  of  Miantonomoh's  treas 
onable  visits  to  the  Indians  of  Long  Island 
he  avowed  the  intention  of  letting  the  Eng 
lish  alone  only  until  he  had  destroyed  Uncas. 
The  testimony  of  Gardiner  is  explicit  upon 
the  subject  of  the  conspiracy;  and  the  de 
tails  which  he  has  recorded,  derived  from  the 
great  Long  Island  Sachem,  Waiandance, 
are  so  ample,  particular,  and  consistent,  that 
it  would  seem  impossible  for  a  doubt  upon 
the  subject  to  remain  with  any  fair-minded 
man,  after  an  examination  of  the  testimony.* 
After  the  close  of  the  Pequod  war,  in  1638, 
among  other  matters  adjusted  at  Hartford  was 
the  formation  of  a  league,  or  covenant,  of 

*  Gardiner's  Pequod  Warres,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol. 
iii.,  Third  Series. 


TREACHERY  OF  MIANTONOMOH.      90 

perpetual  peace  between  Miantonomoh  and 
Uncas3  and  their  respective  Indians.  It  was 
agreed  "  that  all  past  injuries  should  be  re 
mitted  and  for  ever  buried  ;"  and  in  the  event 
of  any  future  injuries,  committed  by  either 
party,  it  was  stipulated  that  instead  of  taking 
the  work  of  vengeance  into  their  own  hands, 
they  should  refer  the  questions  in  dispute  to 
the  English,  by  whose  decisions  they  were 
mutually  bound  to  abide.  But  this  league  of 
friendship  was  of  little  virtue  in  the  estima 
tion  of  Miantonomoh. 

Independently  of  his  conspiracy  against 
the  English,  now  that  the  Pequods,  who  had 
previously  held  the  Narragansetts  in  check, 
and  indeed  in  perpetual  terror,  were  no  lon 
ger  a  nation,  the  bosom  of  Miantonomoh  was 
fired  by  the  ambition  of  becoming  the  uni 
versal  Sovereign,  or  Emperor,  of  all  the  In 
dians  in  New  England.  But  a  consummation 
which  he  so  devoutly  wished  was  not  attain 
able, — at  least  so  long  as  Uncas  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  Mohegans.  Independently, 
moreover,  of  this  consideration,  Miantonomoh 
was  doubtless  jealous  of  the  increasing  power 
and  importance  of  the  Mohegan  Chief,  He 


96  LIFE  OF  IWCAS. 

therefore  resolved  to  rid  himself  of  such  a 
formidable  obstruction  in  the  path  of  his  pro 
jected  aggrandizement,  by  procuring  his  as 
sassination.  An  instrument  for  the  execution 
of  this  treacherous  purpose  was  found  in  the 
person  of  a  young  Pequod,  who,  as  Uncas 
was  passing  unattended  from  a  neighbouring 
wigwam  to  his  own  house,  shot  him  in  the 
twilight  through  the  arm  with  an  arrow. — 
Uncas  saw  not  whence  it  came  ;  but  gaining 
his  "  palace,"  as  his  lodge  is  called  by  one  of 
the  old  writers,  the  arrow  was  drawn  from 
the  wound,  which  was  cured  in  a  short  time. 
Believing,  however,  that  his  aim  had  been 
fatal,  the  Pequod  fled  to  the  Narragansett 
country,  reporting  to  his  employer  and  to  his 
people  that  his  hated  victim  was  dead. 
Nevertheless,  when  it  was  ascertained  that 
Uncas  had  only  been  wounded,  in  order  to 
relieve  themselves  from  the  odium  of  the 
transaction  Miantonomoh  and  his  partizans 
caused  it  to  be  reported  that  the  whole  affair 
was  a  device  on  the  part  of  Uncas,  to  seek 
occasion  for  a  quarrel  with  a  rival  whom  he 
feared,  and  that  he  had  in  fact  wounded  him 
self  by  an  incision  in  his  arm  with  a  sharp 


TREACHERY  OF  MIANTONOMOH.       97 

flint.  Information  of  the  affair  having  reached 
Boston,  the  Narragansett  Chief,  with  his 
Pequod  traitor,  was  summoned  to  Boston,  for 
examination  before  the  Governor  of  Massa 
chusetts.  The  result  was  a  conviction  of  the 
Pequod's  guilt,  from  his  own  testimony,  and 
the  Governor  was  at  one  moment  on  the 
point  of  remanding  him  to  Uncas  himself  for 
punishment.  Miantonomoh  had  of  course 
protested  his  own  innocence;  and  he  now 
pleaded  in  behalf  of  the  Pequod  that  he 
might  not  be  sent  to  Uncas  in  the  manner 
proposed,  promising  to  conduct  him  back  to 
his  own  country,  and  send  him  to  Uncas  for 
examination  and  punishment  himself.  Still, 
so  far  from  fulfilling  this  promise  was  the  dis 
sembling  Narragansett,  that  during  his  jour 
ney  homeward,  he  struck  off  the  Pequod's 
head  with  his  own  hands,  upon  the  principle, 
doubtless,  that  being  dead  he  could  tell  no 
more  tales.  Nor  did  the  attempts  upon  the 
life  of  Uncas,  the  constant  and  distinguished 
friend  of  the  English  colonists,  end  here.  The 
strength  of  poison  and  the  arts  of  sorcery 
were  both  put  in  requisition  by  his  enemies, 
yet  without  success.  It  is  not  in  evidence 


98  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

that  Miantonomoh  was  the  instigator  of  these 
practices,  although  from  what  had  previously 
taken  place,  as  well  as  from  subsequent  tran 
sactions,  such  an  inference  is  not  a  very  long 
one.  There  was  a  sachem  of  considerable 
power  residing  with  his  tribe  at  Mattabeseck, 
on  the  Connecticut  river,  ten  miles  below 
Hartford,  named  Sequasson.  He  was  closely 
allied  to  Miantonomoh,  both  by  relationship 
and  feeling;  and  during  the  year,  (1642)  in 
which  the  attempts  already  mentioned  were 
made  upon  the  life  of  Uncas,  Sequasson  and 
his  people  assumed  a  hostile  bearing  toward 
the  Mohegans,  several  of  whom  were  killed, 
one  of  the  number  being  a  high  and  favorite 
chief  in  the  councils  of  the  sovereign.  In 
conformity  with  the  covenant  heretofore  men 
tioned,  Uncas,  instead  of  avenging  himself, 
made  his  complaint  in  regard  to  all  these  out 
rages,  to  the  Governor  of  Connecticut.  He 
had  demanded  of  Sequasson  the  surrender  of 
six  of  his  people  as  an  atonement  for  his  own 
murdered  chief  and  friend,  because  he  was 
"  a  great  man."  Sequasson  declined  the 
surrender  of  so  large  a  number  ;  and  finally, 
at  the  mediation  of  the  English,  Uncas  agreed 


WAR  WITH  SEQUESSON.  99 

to  accept  of  one  victim  for  execution.  But 
Sequasson  refused  to  abide  by  the  terms 
of  even  this  compromise,  and  appealed  to 
arms, — depending,  as  he  declared,  upon  the 
assistance  of  Miantonomoh.  That  assistance, 
however,  was  not  vouchsafed  by  the  Narra- 
gansett,  and  Sequasson  was  vanquished  by 
the  Mohegans;  a  number  of  his  warriors 
were  slain,  and  his  town  destroyed  by  fire.* 
In  the  progress  of  these  troubles  with  Sequas 
son,  and  before  the  open  war  between  him 
and  Uncas,  the  latter  had  a  narrow  escape 
from  assassination  attempted  in  another  form. 
While  descending  the  river  in  a  canoe,  he 
was  waylaid  by  a  party  of  Sequasson's  Indi 
ans,  and  a  shower  of  arrows  shot  at  him. 
Fortunately  the  barbed  missiles  hurtled  past 
his  head  without  effect. 

Unwearied  efforts  were  made  by  the  Magis- 

*  Winthrop  states  that  seven  or  eight  of  Sequasson's 
warriors  were  killed  and  thirteen  wounded.  His  town 
ravaged  and  burnt.  Miantonomoh  complained  of  Un 
cas  in  this  matter,  both  to  the  Governors  of  Connecti 
cut  and  Massachusetts.  But  as  the  English  had  no 
agency  in  the  affair,  it  was  determined  to  leave  them 
to  take  their  own  course. 


100  LIFE    OF   UNO  AS. 

trates  and  Government  of  Connecticut,  to  heal 
the  difficulties  between  Uncas  and  Miantono 
moh,  but  without  success.  On  the  contrary, 
the  feelings  of  the  aspiring  Narragansett  be 
came  more  and  more  embittered,  until  reject 
ing  every  overture  of  mediation,  he  resolved 
upon  open  war  upon  the  Mohegan.  To  this 
course  it  is  believed  he  was  instigated  by  the 
noted  schismatic  Samuel  Gorton,  who,  for 
what  one  of  the  orthodox  writers  of  that  day 
calls  his  "  damnable  errors,"  had  been  ban 
ished  from  both  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth. 
Gorton  had  the  preceding  year  purchased  from 
Miantonomoh  a  tract  of  land  at  Shawomet, 
where  he  planted  the  town  of  Warwick,  and 
where  he  was  then  living  on  terms  of  close  inti 
macy  with  the  Narragansetts.*  The  motive  of 

*  There  was  a  controversy  with  Gorton  in  respect  to  the 
lands  in  question.  The  Rhode  Island  historians  hold  that 
Massachusetts  was  ever  jealous  of  the  growth  and  pros 
perity  of  their  colony ;  and  Potter  asserts  the  readiness  of 
the  government  of  Massachusetts  to  oppose  Gorton's  pur 
chases  at  Pautuxet  and  Warwick,  on  account  of  their 
religious  hostility  to  him.  But  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  chiefs  of  whom  Gorton  purchased,  Sacon- 
onoco  and  Pomham,  repaired  to  Boston,  and  declared  to 
the  government  that  Miantonomoh  had  forced  one  of 


WAR  UPON  UNCAS.     '  101 

his  interference  to  foment  the  quarrel  between 
Miantonomoh  and  Uncas  does  not  appear,  al 
though  the  fact  is  stated  by  all,  or  nearly  all, 
the  contemporaneous  writers.  But  let  that  be 
as  it  may,  immediately  after  his  return  from 
Boston,  having  assassinated  his  own  assassin 
by  the  way,  as  already  related,  Miantono 
moh,  without  consulting  the  English  as  he 
was  bound  to  do  by  the  tripartite  conven 
tion  of  Hartford,  without  proclaiming  war,  or 
giving  Uncas  the  slightest  intimation  of  a  bel 
ligerent  intention,  suddenly  invaded  his  terri- 

them  to  sign  the  deed  of  sale.  They  also  threw  them 
selves  upon  the  protection  of  Massachusetts.  Gorton 
was  afterward  seized  and  taken  to  Boston,  where  he 
was  tried  and  convicted  of  blasphemy,  for  which  he 
came  near  being  put  to  death.  The  milder  punishment 
of  imprisonment,  however,  was  resorted  to,  but  the  dis 
satisfaction  of  the  people  even  at  this  measure  of  se 
curity,  was  such,  that  the  sentence  was  at  length  com 
muted  to  banishment.  He  then  went  to  England,  where 
through  the  influence  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  he  ob 
tained  a  grant  of  the  disputed  land  at  Shawomet, 
which  he  thenceforward  called  Warwick,  in  honor  of 
the  Earl.  He  was  a  self-taught  preacher,  well  versed 
in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  languages ;  and  on  his  trials 
for  his  heresies,  greatly  embarrassed  his  judges  by  his 
talents  and  ingenuity. 


102.  LIFE    OF   UNCAS. 

tory  with  an  army  of  a  thousand  warriors.  It 
was  not  until  the  invaders  had  actually  crossed 
the  Yantic  river,  at  the  ford  above  the  falls,  and 
were  thus  actually  within  the  territory  of  the 
chief  town  of  his  dominions,  that  Uncas  was 
apprised  by  some  of  his  runners  of  his  enemy's 
advance.  For  once,  though  an  Indian,  he 
was  taken  by  surprise.  But  his  heart  faltered 
not.  His  reply  to  the  messenger  was,  that 
Miantonomoh  must  not  be  allowed  to  reach 
his  town ,  and  hastily  collecting  four  or  five 
hundred  of  his  bravest  warriors, — not  half  the 
number  of  his  enemy, — he  boldly  marched 
forth  to  the  unequal  conflict.  Having  pro 
ceeded  three  or  four  miles,  Miantonomoh  and 
his  forces  were  met  upon  the  plain,  distant 
a  mile  or  two  west  of  the  falls ;  and  here  the 
Mohegan  chieftain  signalized  himself  by  an 
act  worthy  of  the  proudest  hero  whose  name 
has  ever  yet  been  written  by  the  muse  of  his 
tory.  The  opposing  forces  had  approached 
within  bowr-shot  of  each  other,  when  Uncas 
courageously  advanced  some  distance  in  front 
of  his  braves,  and  desired  a  parley,  which  was 
granted.  Having  approached  within  speak 
ing  distance,  Uncas  addressed  his  invader  to 


BATTLE  WITH  MIANTONOMOH.  f  03 

the  following  effect : — "  You  have  a  number 
of  brave  warriors  with  you,  and  so  have  I  with 
me.  It  is  a  pity  that  our  warriors  should  be 
killed  in  a  private  quarrel  between  their 
chiefs.  Step  forward,  like  a  brave  man,  as 
you  profess  to  be,  and  let  us  fight  the  battle 
ourselves.  If  I  fall,  the  Mohegans  shall  serve 
the  Narragansetts.  But  if  Uncas  kills  Mian- 
tonomoh,  the  Narragansetts  shall  be  mine  !"* 
The  proposition  was  not  met  in  a  correspond 
ing  spirit.  "  My  braves,"  said  Miantonomoh, 
"  came  here  to  fight,  and  they  shall  fight." 
Uncas  had  doubtless  prepared  his  warriors 
for  the  crisis.  On  the  rejection  of  his  propo 
sition,  he  instantly  fell  flat  upon  the  ground, 
at  which  signal  his  warriors  sprang  forward 
with  the  fury  of  the  chafed  panther.  Dis 
charging  a  single  shower  of  arrows,  they 
rushed  upon  the  ranks  of  Miantonomoh  with 

*  The  unlettered  Mohegan  knew  nothing  of  the 
classics,  or  of  the  ancients.  Else  it  might  have  been 
imputed  to  him  that  he  borrowed  the  notion  of  this  pro 
position  from  the  speech  of  Fuffetius,  the  Alban  com 
mander,  to  Tullius  Hostilius,  King  of  Rome:  "Let 
us  hit  upon  some  expedient  by  which  it  may  be  deter 
mined  which  nation  shall  command  the  other,  without 
much  slaughter  or  effusion  of  blood  on  both  sides." 


104  LIFE  OF  UNO  AS. 

a  degree  of  boldness  and  impetuosity  which 
the  latter  could  not  resist.  They  broke  at 
the  first  shock,  and  a  flight  ensued,  attended  by 
the  hideous  yells  and  screams  incident  to 
Indian  warfare.  The  Narragansetts  were  pur 
sued  down  rocks  and  precipices,  to  the  river, 
and  such  was  the  panic  produced  by  the  sud 
denness  and  energy  of  the  onslaught,  and  so 
hot  and  close  was  the  pursuit,  that  numbers  of 
them,  cut  off  from  the  fording-place  above, 
were  driven  headlong  down  the  precipice  that 
beetles  over  the  cataract.  The  greater  num 
ber,  however,  crossing  the  river,  were  driven 
before  the  conquerors  like  a  herd  of  deer  be 
fore  the  huntsmen,  across  the  plain  where  the 
old  town  of  Norwich  now  stands,  over  the 
rocky  ridge  on  the  eastern  side,  and  thence 
across  Sachem's  Plain,  upon  which  the  battle 
was  ended  by  the  capture  of  the  chief.  Mi- 
antonomoh  had  been  furnished  with  a  suit  of 
armor  by  Gorton,  which,  less  wise  than  the 
Hebrew  shepherd  boy,  he  assumed  for  the 
protection  of  his  person  "  before  he  had  prov 
ed  it."  This  armor,  instead  of  doing  him  any 
good,  so  impeded  his  flight  as  to  secure  his 
capture.  Some  of  the  fleetest  of  the  Mohe- 


MIANTONOMOH'S  DEFEAT.         J  105 


gans  overtook,  and  seizing  him  by/nis  attire, 
drew  him  back,  in  order  that  on  coming  up 
Uncas  might  have  the  honor  of  capturing  him 
himself.  It  was  but  an  instant  before  the 
gallant  Mohegan  leaped  forward  and  grasped 
his  enemy  by  the  shoulder.  The  appropriate 
war-whoop  brought  a  number  of  his  braves  to 
his  assistance,  and  the  illustrious  prisoner  was 
secured.  The  battle  was  then  ended.  Thirty 
of  the  Narragansett  warriors  were  killed,  and 
a  much  larger  number  wounded.  Among  the 
latter  were  two  sons  of  the  venerable  Canon- 
icus,  and  a  brother  of  Miantonomoh.  This 
brother  had  likewise  been  encumbered  with  a 
coat  of  armor  furnished  by  the  same  Gorton, 
contributing  also  to  his  capture.  According  to 
several  accounts,  he  was  brought  to  Uncas  by 
two  of  Miantonomoh's  captains, — traitors  to 
the  Mohegans,  who  had  joined  the  Narragan- 
setts,  and  now  hoped  to  propitiate  the 
victorious  chief,  whom  they  had  betrayed,  by 
bringing  him  so  distinguished  a  captive.  But 
Uncas  served  them  as  David  did  the  young 
Amalekite,  who  falsely  boasted  of  having 
killed  King  Saul  at  Gilboa.  He  struck  off 
their  heads. 


106  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

The  vanquished  chief  bore  his  discomfiture 
and  captivity  with  little  philosophy.  He  sat 
down  sullenly,  and  refused  to  utter  a  word. 
"  Why  don't  you  speak  ?"  inquired  the  more 
ingenuous  victor.  "  Had  you  taken  me,  I 
should  have  besought  you  for  my  life."  But 
the  scornful  Narragansett  disdained  to  reply. 
Still  Uncas  spared  his  life,  and  returned  in 
triumph  from  the  campaign  of  a  day  to  his 
capital.* 

Faithful  to  his  engagements  to  submit 
every  question  of  difficulty  arising  between 
himself  and  the  Narragansetts  to  the  advice, 
if  not  the  arbitrament  of  the  English,  Uncas 
determined  to  take  his  prisoner  to  Hartford,  to 
consult  with  the  colonial  authorities  as  to  the 
disposition  proper  to  be  made  of  him.  His 
resolution  to  this  effect  was  doubtless  hastened 
by  the  interference  of  Gorton  and  his  adhe 
rents  in  Rhode  Island,  who  demanded  his  re 
lease  under  a  threat  of  vengeance.  The  de 
mand  and  the  threat  were  alike  unheeded ; 

*  Winthrop  imputes  this  invasion  of  the  Mohegans 
expressly  to  the  affair  between  Uncas  and  Miantono- 
moh's  relative,  Sequasson.  Potter  echoes  the  same 
opinion. 


TRIAL  OF  MIANTONOMOH.  107 

and  the  Mohegan  chief  carried  the  prisoner 
in  triumph  to  Hartford.  But  under  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  case,  the  Connecticut 
magistracy  deemed  it  improper  for  them  to 
interfere.  The  war  in  which  the  Narragan- 
sett  chief  had  been  taken,  was  a  measure  of 
his  own.  It  was  confined  to  the  Narragan- 
setts  and  Mohegans,  toward  both  of  whom 
the  English  occupied  the  position  of  neutrals ; 
and  they  therefore  declined  deciding  the  case. 
Miantonomoh,  however,  although  he  had  with 
stubborn  hauteur  refused  to  ask  for  terms  of 
Uncas,  was  no  longer  speechless,  and  he  now 
earnestly  pleaded  that  he  might  not  be  de 
livered  back  to  that  chieftain,  preferring  to 
be  retained  in  the  custody  of  the  colonists. 
In  the  end,  therefore,  it  was  concluded  that 
he  should  remain  at  Hartford,  in  custody,  as 
the  prisoner  of  Uncas,  who  would  relinquish 
his  claim  to  him  as  such,  until  the  whole  case 
could  be  submitted  for  advisement  to  the 
Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies.  A 
meeting  of  those  Commissioners  was  held  in 
Boston  in  the  following  September,  over  the 
deliberations  of  which  Governor  Winthrop 
was  called  to  preside.  The  whole  case  was 


108  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

deliberately  examined,  and  all  the  charges 
previously  alleged  by  Uncas  against  the  pri 
soner  were  investigated  and  substantially 
proved ;  while  the  evidence  in  regard  to  some 
of  them,  considered  doubtful  before,  was  ma 
terially  strengthened,  if  not  rendered  clear 
and  unequivocal.  It  was  proved  that  Mian- 
tonomoh  had  been  the  instigator  of  the  seve 
ral  attempts  upon  the  life  of  Uncas  heretofore 
mentioned  :  and  that  after  having  stipulated 
to  deliver  the  Pequod  assassin  to  Uncas,  he 
had  murdered  him  with  his  own  hands,  on  the 
road  from  Boston  to  Narragansett.  More 
than  all,  his  own  immediate  agency  in  stirring 
up  the  Indians  to  a  general  conspiracy  for 
cutting  off  all  the  English  colonies  and  plan 
tations  was  fully  established  ; — and  farther, 
that  at  his  invitation  the  Mohawks  had  alrea 
dy  arrived  within  a  day's  journey  of  the  Eng 
lish  settlements  to  participate  in  the  feast  of 
blood  ;  having  been  deterred  from  advancing 
nearer  only  by  intelligence  of  the  victory  of 
Uncas,  and  the  capture  of  his  enemy.  It  was 
also  ascertained  upon  this  point,  that  these 
Mohawks  were,  at  the  very  time  of  the  trial, 
waiting  only  for  the  release  of  Miantonomoh, 


TRIAL  OF   MIANTONOMOH.  109 

which  event  was  to  be  the  signal  for  falling 
either  upon  the  white  settlements,  or  upon 
Uncas,  or  upon  both,  as  might  be  judged  ex 
pedient.* 

*  Those  historians  who  have  espoused  the  cause  of 
Miantonomoh  against  Uncas,  and  have  condemned  the 
proceedings  of  the  Commissioners  in  this  investigation, 
seem,  generally,  to  have  overlooked  this  important 
feature  of  the  case.  Yet  few  historical  facts  are  better 
established  than  that  of  this  conspiracy.  The  visits  of 
Miantonomoh  to  Long  Island  were  frequent  while  he 
was  arranging  his  plans ;  and  he  exerted  all  his  elo 
quence  and  subtlety,  to  bring  the  Indians  there  into 
the  conspiracy.  He  called  the  Indians  in  the  sachem 
dom  of  Waiandance  together,  gave  them  gifts,  and 
called  them  brethren ; — "  for  so  are  we  all  Indians,  as 
the  English  are,"  he  added.  "We  must  be  one  as 
they  are,  otherwise  we  shall  all  be  gone  shortly,  for  you 
know  our  fathers  had  plenty  of  deer  skins  ;  our  plains 
were  full  of  deer,  as  also  our  woods,  and  of  turkies,  and 
our  lakes  full  of  fish  and  fowl.  But  these  English,  hav 
ing  gotten  our  land,  they  with  scythes  cut  down  the 
grass,  and  with  axes  fell  the  trees.  Their  cows  and 
horses  eat  the  grass,  and  their  hogs  destroy  our  clam- 
banks,  and  we  shall  all  be  starved.  Then  it  is  best  for 
you  to  do  as  we,  for  we  are  all  the  sachems  from  east 
to  west,  both  Moquakoes  and  Mohawks,  joining  with 
us,  and  we  are  all  resolved  to  fall  upon  them  all  at  one 
appointed  day."  After  communicating  his  designs  and 
preparations  for  them,  he  gave  them  the  signal  for  ac 
tion  :  "  When  you  see  the  three  fires  that  will  be  made 
10 


110  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

With  such  proofs  before  them,  it  was  evi 
dent  to  the  Commissioners  that  there  could 
be  little  hope  of  peace  between  the  Colonists 
and  the  Indians,  while  such  a  subtle  and  tur 
bulent  spirit  as  Miantonomoh  should  be  suf 
fered  to  live.  It  was  equally  evident  that 
there  could  be  no  safety  for  Uncas  in  the 
event  of  his  rival's  liberation  ;  "  but  that, 
either  by  secret  treachery  or  open  force,  his 
life  would  be  in  continual  danger."  Yet  with 
all  the  proofs  before  them,  the  Commission 
ers  desired  not  to  make  a  final  disposition  of 
the  case  without  the  soundest  advice  that 
could  be  obtained.  They  therefore  submit 
ted  the  matter  to  five  of  the  most  judicious 
elders,  and  six  of  the  principal  ministers  of 
Massachusetts.  These  gave  their  opinion 
that  he  ought  to  be  put  to  death.  Thus 
supported, — knowing  that  it  would  not  be 
safe  to  set  him  at  liberty, — yet  feeling  that 
there  was  not  sufficient  ground  for  the  co 
lonial  authorities  to  order  his  execution  be- 

forty  days  hence,  in  a  clear  night,  then  do  as  we,  and  the 
next  day  fall  on  and  kill  men,  women  and  children,  but 
no  cows,  for  they  will  serve  to  eat  till  our  deer  be  in 
creased  again.55 — Gardiner's  Pequot  Warres. 


OPINION  OF  THE  COUNCIL.  Ill 

cause  of  his  offences  against  them,  the  Com 
missioners  finally  resolved  that  Uncas  "  MIGHT 

JUSTLY  PUT    SUCH    A    FALSE    AND  BLOOD-THIRSTY 

ENEMY  TO  DEATH."  But  they  at  the  same 
time  directed  that  his  execution  should  not 
take  place  within  the  boundaries  of  any  of 
the  English  plantations,  or  without  his  own 
proper  jurisdiction.  They  likewise  farther 
advised  "  that  he  should  forbear  to  exercise 
any  barbarous  cruelty  toward  him,  as  their 
manner  is."  In  the  event  of  a  refusal  by 
Uncas  to  carry  the  recommendation  into 
execution,  then  the  Commissioners  decided 
"  that  Miantonomoh  should  be  sent  in  a  pin 
nace  to  Boston,  there  to  be  kept  until  farther 
consideration."* 

*  Winthrop.  Mr.  Savage,  in  his  edition  of  Win- 
throp's  Journal,  appends  a  long  and  very  extraordinary 
note  to  the  Governor's  account  of  these  proceedings, 
from  which  it  is  very  evident  that  the  annotator  had  not 
thoroughly  studied  the  case,  or  else  that  his  perceptions 
had  been  clouded  by  the  writings  of  those  who  have 
favored  the  side  of  Gorton  and  the  Narragansetts.  Mr. 
Savage  assumes  that  in  his  recent  invasion  of  the  Mo- 
hegans,  Miantonomoh  was  only  attempting  to  take  ven 
geance  of  Uncas  for  despoiling  the  town  of  Sequasson — 
forgetting  that  in  the  quarrel  between  Uncas  and  the 


112  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

It  does  not  appear  that  previous  to  this 
decision  of  the  Commissioners,  it  had  been 
the  purpose  of  Uncas  to  put  his  prisoner  to 
death.  Had  he  been  thus  inclined,  he  might, 
agreeably  to  the  usages  of  savage  war,  have 
struck  him  down  upon  the  field  of  his  capture ; 
or  he  might  have  taken  yet  deeper  vengeance 
by  putting  him  to  the  torture  without  the 
trouble  of  a  journey  to  Hartford.  He  was 
not  even  present  at  the  meeting  of  the  Com 
missioners  in  Boston.  But  their  decision 
governed  his  own ;  and  the  residue  of  the 
story  of  Miantonomoh  is  soon  told.  On  the 

latter,  it  was  the  latter  who  was  the  aggressor.  The 
annotator  also  forgets  a  yet  more  important  feature  of 
the  transaction — the  conspiracy  of  Miantonomoh  to  cut 
off  the  whole  English  population.  Mr.  Savage  ends  his 
note  by  a  quotation  from  Stephen  Hopkins,  Governor  of 
Rhode  Island,  who  denounces  the  Commissioners  bit 
terly  for  authorising  an  act  from  which  he  says  "  the 
savage  soul"  of  Uncas  revolted.  Governor  Hopkins 
also  held  that  the  execution  was  an  act  of  ingratitude, 
inasmuch  as  Miantonomoh  some  years  before  had  as 
sisted  the  colonists  against  the  Pequods.  But  the 
assistance  rendered  by  him  on  that  occasion,  I  have 
before  proven  to  have  been  reluctant  and  inefficient,  if 
not  equivocal  and  doubtful.  Potter  quotes  the  same 
passage  from  Hopkins  with  approbation. 


EXECUTION  OF  MIANTONOMOH.      113 

return  of  the  Connecticut  and  New-Haven 
Commissioners  they  dispatched  messengers  to 
Uncas,  requesting  him  to  meet  them  at  Hart 
ford,  with  a  competent  number  of  his  most 
trusty  warriors.  The  determination  of  the 
Commissioners  having  been  communicated  to 
him,  Miantonomoh  was  surrendered  into  his 
custody,  and  marched  back  to  the  country  of 
the  Mohegans,  and  to  the  field  of  his  own 
humiliation.  Being  conducted  to  the  very 
spot  upon  which  he  had  been  taken,  a  warrior 
designated  for  that  purpose,  and  by  some  au 
thorities  said  to  have  been  a  brother  of  Uncas, 
struck  him  from  behind  with  a  tomahawk, 
and  laid  him  dead  at  a  single  blow.  A 
knowledge  of  his  doom  had  probably  been 
withholden  from  him  in  mercy,  and  it  was 
believed  he  knew  not  by  what  means  he  fell. 
According  to  the  instructions  of  his  white  coun 
sellors,  it  was  provided  that  some  "  discreet 
and  faithful  persons  of  the  English  should 
accompany  Uncas  and  see  the  execution,  for 
the  more  full  satisfaction  of  the  Commis 
sioners  ;  the  English  not  being  allowed  to 
meddle  with  the  head  or  body  at  all." 
Whether  this  direction  was  complied  with 


1 14«  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

is  not  known.  The  place  of  this  summary 
execution  is  said  to  have  been  upon  "  Sach 
em's  Plain/'  in  the  eastern  part  of  Norwich. 
He  was  buried  upon  the  spot,  by  the  order 
of  Uncas,  and  a  heap  of  stones  was  piled  upon 
his  grave.  In  process  of  time  the  heap  grew 
into  a  considerable  mound,  from  the  well- 
known  custom  of  the  race  of  adding  to  a 
monumental  pile  of  the  dead  whenever  they 
pass  it.  This  mound  remained  undisturbed 
until  nearly  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
when  some  of  the  neighboring  inhabitants 
illustrated  their  feelings  of  veneration  by  re 
moving  the  memorial,*  and  converting  the 

*  Letter  from  William  T.  Williams,  Esq.,  prefixed  to 
"  Lion  Gardiner's  Pequot  Warres,"  published  in  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Collections.  On  the  Anni 
versary  of  American  Independence,  in  1841,  the  inhab 
itants  of  the  neighboring  village  of  Greenville  paraded 
upon  the  plain,  and  erected  on  the  spot  where  the  chief 
tain,  fell  and  was  buried,  a  neat  granite  monument,  bear 
ing  the  simple  and  appropriate  inscription  in  capitals — 
MIANTONOMOH. 

1643. 

The  monument  consists  of  a  single  oblong  block  of  stone, 
about  eight  feet  by  five,  and  perhaps  five  in  thickness — 
resting  upon  a  little  mound  raised  for  that  purpose.  An 
address  was  delivered  on  the  occasion,  by  Mr.  Gilman. 
of  Norwich. 


CHARACTER  OF  MIANTONOMOH.  115 

sacred  materials  into  a  section  of  stone  wall. 
A  traditionary  letter,  written  by  the  Rev. 
Richard  Hyde,  in  1769,  and  cited  authorita 
tively  by  Trumbull,  states  that  after  Mianto- 
nomoh  was  slain,  Uncas  cut  a  large  slice  of 
flesh  from  his  shoulder,  roasted  and  ate  it ; 
remarking  that  "  it  was  the  sweetest  meat  he 
ever  ate,  and  made  him  feel  strong  at  the 
heart"  But  the  truth  of  this  incident  may  wrell 
be  questioned.  It  comports  not  with  the  cha 
racter  of  the  man,  savage  though  he  was. 

There  is  little  for  commendation  in  the 
character  of  Miantonomoh.  He  was  proba 
bly  never  a  real  friend  to  the  English,  except 
ing,  perhaps,  to  Roger  Williams,  and  the 
original  planters  of  Rhode  Island.  Yet 
because  of  his  greater  hatred  of  the  Pequods 
he  could  aid  the  English  in  their  extermina 
tion.  His  form  was  noble  and  commanding, 
and  he  was  endowed  with  a  full  share  of  the 
bravery  incident  to  his  race.  His  age  is  not 
known ;  but  he  was  probably  in  the  prime 
and  vigor  of  manhood  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  since  he  had  been  taken  into  the  joint 
government  of  his  people  by  his  uncle  Ca- 
nonicus  about  ten  years  before.  Their  agree- 


116  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

ment  in  the  government,  was  remarkable. 
"The  old  Sachem  will  not  be  offended  at 
what  the  young  Sachem  doth ;  and  the 
young  Sachem  will  not  do  what  he  conceives 
will  displease  his  Uncle,"  says  Roger  Wil 
liams.  Still  Miantonomoh  was  a  dissembler, 
and  a  treacherous  friend ;  and  he  fell  a  vic 
tim  to  his  unchastened  and  reckless  ambition. 
But  although  tyrannical  to  his  vassals,  and  in 
his  bearing  haughty  and  imperious  to  all,  he 
was  nevertheless  popular  among  his  people, 
who  would  have  revenged  his  death  had  it 
not  been  for  the  alliance,  offensive  and  defen 
sive,  between  the  United  Colonies  and  Uncas- 
The  venenerable  Canonicus,  his  head  silvered 
with  the  snows  of  almost  a  hundred  winters? 
was  yet  living  to  mourn  the  loss  of  his  favor 
ite  ; — young  Pessacus,  now  just  turned  of 
twenty,  as  bold  as  his  brother  who  had  fallen, 
panted  for  an  opportunity  to  make  red  his 
hatchet  in  Mohegan  blood ;  and  in  a  word, 
the  smothered  fire  of  vengeance  was  ready  to 
break  forth,  in  every  Narragansett  bosom. 
Nor  were  the  Narragansetts  proper  alone  in 
their  resentment.  The  Nahantics,  who  have 
heretofore  been  mentioned  as  a  powerful 
people  living  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Paw- 


H 

RAGE  OF  THE  NARRAGANSETTS.  117 

catuck,  were  in  fact  a  clan  of  the  Narragan- 
setts.  Ninigret,  their  chief  Sachem.,  or  king, 
was  a  cousin  to,  or  as  some  authors  have 
said,  an  uncle  of  Miantonomoh ;  and  the 
people  were  closely  allied  to  the  Narragan- 
setts  by  intermarriages ;  so  that,  to  quote  the 
words  of  Miantonomoh  himself  in  a  speech 
to  Governor  "Winthrop,  "  they  were  as  his 
own  flesh."  By  these  people,  therefore,  the 
death  of  Miantonomoh  was  deeply  felt,  and 
as  they  brooded  darkly  over  it,  their  first 
impulse  wras  revenge  upon  the  Mohegan 
chief. 

Anticipating  that  Miantonomoh's  execu 
tion  might  arouse  feelings  like  those  just  de 
scribed,  and  well  knowing  that  the  Narra- 
gansetts,  even  without  the  Nahantics,  were 
more  powerful  than  the  Mohegans,  the  Gov 
ernment  at  Hartford  had  very  properly  given 
an  assurance  to  Uncas  of  protection  in  the 
event  of  another  outbreak  against  him.  Mes 
sengers  were  also  despatched  to  the  Narra- 
gansett  Sachems,  Canonicus  and  Pessacus, 
both  from  Hartford  and  Boston,  rehearsing 
the  perfidious  conduct  of  Miantonomoh,  and 
justifying  the  act  of  putting  him  to  death. 
Peace  and  safety  were  tendered  them,  but 


118  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

only  on  condition  that  Uncas  and  his  people 
should  not  be  molested.  The  act  was  declar 
ed  to  have  been  one  of  imperative  necessity, 
just  in  itself,  and  agreeable  to  the  practice  of 
the  Indians  themselves  under  similar  circum 
stances.  In  a  word,  the  Narragansetts  were 
given  distinctly  to  understand  that,  if  assailed, 
Uncas  should  be  defended  by  the  colonists  to 
the  extent  of  their  power ;  and  as  an  earnest 
of  this  determination  a  detachment  of  soldiers 
was  despatched  forthwith  to  the  Mohegan 
country. 

Yet  these  precautions  were  not  altogether 
sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  peace  ;  but 
Uncas  was  perpetually  harassed  by  the  Nar 
ragansetts  and  Nahantics  for  the  two  succeed 
ing  years.*  Immediately  on  the  death  of 

*  "  In  the  year  1644,  "  two  days  after  the  Court 
was  broken  up,  Pomham  sent  two  men  to  Boston,  to  tell 
us  that  the  Narragansetts  had  taken  and  killed  six  of 
Uncas's  men,  and  five  women,  and  had  sent  him  two 
hands  and  a  foot  to  engage  him  in  the  war,  but  he  had 
refused  to  receive  them,  and  sent  to  us  for  counsel." — 
Winthrop.  [This  Pomham  was  afterward  killed  near 
Dedham,  Massachusetts.  He  is  spoken  of  by  Hubbard 
as  "  a  bloody  and  barbarous  Indian.5'  He  had  a  son 
taken  captive  at  the  same  time,  "  a  very  likely  youth, 
whose  countenance  would  have  bespoken  favor  for  him 
but  for  his  father."] 


RAGE  OF  THE  NARRAG-ANSETTS.  119 

Miantonomoh  they  had  indeed  despatched 
messengers  to  Governor  Winthrop,  in  Bos 
ton,  with  a  present  of  wampum,  in  the  hope 
of  purchasing  the  neutrality  of  Massachusetts 
in  the  war  which  they  were  at  once  bent  on 
waging  against  Uncas.  But  the  mission  was 
unsuccessful,  and  their  belt  and  present  were 
returned.  Still,  fired  with  indignation,  they 
persisted  in  their  belligerent  purpose,  de 
claring  in  reply  to  a  message  from  the 
Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies, — 
"that  they  would  kill  the  cattle  of  the  Eng 
lish  and  pile  them  in  heaps ;  that  an  Eng 
lishman  should  no  sooner  step  out  at  his 
doors,  than  the  Indians  would  kill  him  ;  and 
that,  let  who  will  have  begun  the  war,  we 
will  continue  it  until  we  have  the  head  of 
Uncas."*  Pursuant  to  this  resolution,  the 

*  The  evidence  was  very  conclusive,  that  the  Narra- 
gansetts  were  stimulated  to  this  course  by  Gorton  and 
his  associates,  who  wrote  their  messages  to  the  Governor 
of  Massachusetts  for  them.  In  order  more  effectually 
to  dissuade  Canonicus  and  Passacus  from  their  purpose^ 
an  embassy  was  sent  to  them  from  Boston.  But  the 
messengers  were  not  treated  with  their  wonted  respect. 
They  kept  them  for  the  night  in  an  ordinary  lodge,  and 
made  "  forward  speeches"  to  them.  <e  Their  answers 
were  witty,  and  full  to  the  questions,  and  their  conclu- 


120  LIFE   OF    UNCAS. 

ohegan  territory  was  repeatedly  invaded 
by  the  Narragansetts  during  the  years  1644 
and  1645,  in  which  incursions  several  of  the 
people  of  Uncas  were  slain,  and  others  taken 
captive.  In  the  last  mentioned  year,  Tanta- 
quesan,  the  Mohegan  Chief  who  had  first  ar 
rested  Miantonomoh  in  his  attempted  flight 
from  the  battle  of  Sachem's  Plain,  was  dan 
gerously  and  treacherously  wounded  while 
asleep  in  his  wigwam.  This  act  was  com 
mitted  by  two  Narragansetts  who  had  been 
led  thither  and  introduced  into  his  domicil  by 
some  cunning  squaws.  Tantaquesan  being 
awaked  from  his  sleep  by  the  first  blow  of  the 
hatchet,  which  fortunately  fell  upon  his 
breast  instead  of  his  head,  he  was  indebted  to 
his  own  presence  of  mind  and  bravery  for  his 
life.  Other  acts  of  hostility,  both  open  and 
secret,  were  committed ;  the  property  of  the 
Mohegans  was  greatly  damaged ;  their  corn 
fields  ravaged;  canoes  destroyed,  &c.  &c., 

sion  was  that  they  would  soon  go  to  war  upon  Uncas, 
but  not  in  such  manner  as  Miantonomoh  had  done,  by  a 
great  army,  but  by  sending  out  parties  of  thirty  or  more 
or  less,  to  catch  his  men,  and  keep  them  from  getting  a 
living."—  Winthrop. 


THE  MOHAWKS.  121 

in  addition  to  all  which,  another  plot  was 
detected  for  bringing  the  Mohawks  down 
upon  Uucas  and  his  people.  This  second  at 
tempt  of  the  perfidious  Narragansetts  was 
stoutly  denied  by  Pessacus,  and  also  by  a  son 
of  Canonicus,  who  called  upon  "  the  English 
man's  God"  to  witness  the  truth  of  his  deni 
al.  But  the  historical  evidence  to  the  con 
trary  is  too  strong  to  be  resisted.  The  Mo 
hawks  and  the  Pocomtock  Indians  had  both 
been  hired  to  assist  in  the  subjugation  of  Un- 
cas,  and  the  total  destruction  of  his  nation. 
The  Pocomtocks  made  their  preparations, 
and  actually  assembled  for  the  purpose,  while 
to  the  same  end  the  Narragansetts  and  Na- 
hantics  removed  their  old  men,  women  and 
children  into  swamps  and  fastnesses  for  their 
security,  and  had  a  force  of  eight  hundred 
warriors  in  readiness  to  join  their  expected 
allies.* 

In  the  progress  of  these  troubles,  there  was 

*  "The  Narragansetts/' says  Cotton  Mather,  "hir 
ing  the  Maquas  to  assist  them  in  their  prosecution 
against  Uncas,  were  again  upon  the  very  point  of  com 
mitting  outrages  upon  the  English,  too;  but  a  merciful 
Providence  of  Heaven  overruled  it.'* 
11 


122  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

at  least  one  formidable  invasion,  in  which 
Uncas  must  have  fought  at  great  disadvan 
tage,  though  with  his  wonted  bravery.  The 
strength  of  the  Narragansetts  and  Nahantics 
having  been  combined  against  him,  he  was 
compelled  for  a  season  to  confine  himself  and 
his  warriors  to  his  fort,  but  from  which  he 
was  at  length  drawn  by  stratagem.  A  body 
of  only  forty  Narragansetts  having  shown 
themselves  before  the  fort,  Uncas  incautiously 
sallied  forth  in  pursuit,  until  at  length  he  was 
drawn  into  an  ambuscade  of  a  thousand  war 
riors.  A  bloody  conflict  ensued,  in  the  out 
set  of  which  the  Mohegans  were  discomfitted. 
The  Narragansetts  had  the  use  of  more  fire 
arms  than  were  possessed  by  the  Mohegans, 
and  the  latter  were  compelled  to  fly  a  consi 
derable  distance  within  their  own  territory. 
Here  their  numbers  must  have  been  greatly 
increased,  inasmuch  as  they  rallied  with  fresh 
spirit,  and  drove  the  Narragansetts  back  again 
in  turn.  How  many  were  killed  in  this  en 
gagement,  on  either  side,  is  not  known. 
Thomas  Peters, — who  visited  Uncas  at  his  fort 
immediately  after  the  battle,  in  company  with 
John  Winthrop,  a  son  of  Governor  Winthrop 


ANOTHER  BATTLE.  123 

of  Massachusetts, — in  a  letter  to  the  latter, 
speaks  of  dressing  seventeen  of  the  wounded 
Mohegans  and  leaving  plasters  to  dress  the 
wounds  of  seventeen  more.  Peters  also  speaks 
of  the  death  of  four  of  Uncas's  captains,  killed 
by  fire-arms ;  and  Uncas  attributed  his  re 
pulse  in  the  early  part  of  the  battle  to  the  use 
of  those  weapons  against  him.  It  was  Peters 
who  dressed  the  wounds  of  Tantaquesan, 
whom  the  Narragansetts  had  attempted  to 
assassinate. 

These  troubles  between  the  two  nations 
continuing,  the  English  were  obliged  fre 
quently  to  interpose  in  favor  of  Uncas,  until 
at  length  it  was  determined  to  put  an  end  to 
them  by  striking  a  signal  blow  at  the  ag 
gressors, — the  Narragansetts  and  Nahantics. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Commisssioners  of  the 
United  Colonies,  held  in  Boston  in  June, 
1645,  they  went  into  a  full  investigation  of 
the  whole  controversy.  A  declaration  was 
put  forth,  in  which  the  entire  history  of  the 
quarrel  between  the  Mohegans  and  Narra 
gansetts  was  recapitulated  ;  and  in  view  of 
all  the  facts  of  the  case,  the  Commissioners 
resolved  that  "it  clearly  appeared,  on  weigh- 


124?  LIFE    OF    UNCAS. 

ing  the  premises,  that  God  called  the  Colo 
nists  to  war  against  the  enemies  of  Uncas," 
for  whose  safety  it  was  their  duty  to  provide. 
Messengers,  of  peace,  however,  were  yet 
again  sent  to  both  the  Narragansetts  and 
Mohegans  ;  but  the  chiefs  of  the  former  again 
declared  that  they  were  "  determined  to  have 
no  peace  without  the  head  of  Uncas."  Vigor 
ous  efforts  were  immediately  made  by  the 
colonists  for  the  invasion  of  the  Narragansett 
country.  Meantime  the  Narragansett  and 
Nahantic  chiefs  were  again  invited  to  Boston, 
that  another  effort  for  the  restoration  of  peace 
might  be  made.  Pessacus,  and  two  other  Nar 
ragansetts,  and  Ninigret,  the  Nahantic  chief, 
with  a  numerous  train,  complied  with  the  in 
vitation.  Finding,  on  their  arrival  in  Boston, 
that  the  English  were  in  earnest,  and  that 
some  of  their  forces  had  already  gone  against 
the  Indian  country,  the  chiefs,  on  the  30th  of 
August,  1645,  came  to  the  terms  of  the  Com 
missioners,  and  signed  an  agreement  of  peace, 
stipulating  for  a  restoration  of  prisoners  to 
Uncas,  and  reparation  for  the  damage  they 
had  done  to  the  Mohegans  in  their  hostile 
incursions.  They  also  agreed  to  pay  the 


NAHANTICS  AND  NARRAGANSETTS.  125 

English  two  thousand  fathoms  of  wampum, 
as  a  reimbursement  to  the  Colonies  of  the  ex 
penses  incurred  by  their  warlike  demonstra 
tions.  Furthermore  they  were  required  to 
leave  some  of  their  number  as  hostages  for 
the  faithful  performance  of  the  stipulations. 

The  wampum  not  being  paid  by  the  Narra- 
gansetts  with  the  promptitude  that  was 
deemed  requisite,  Pessacus  was  summoned  to 
appear  in  Boston  for  explanations  in  1646. 
This  summons  not  being  complied  with,  it 
was  repeated  in  the  following  year,  when, 
under  the  plea  of  sickness,  Ninigret,  the  Na- 
hantic  chief,  was  sent  in  his  room — Pessacus 
protesting  against  the  payment  of  the  whole 
amount,  because,  as  he  alledged,  he  had 
signed  the  treaty  under  constraint,  being  "  in 
fear  of  the  army  which  he  saw."  Ninigret 
interposed  various  pretexts,  and  resorted  to 
divers  subterfuges  and  evasions,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  avoiding  the  payment.  The  plea 
advanced  was  that  of  poverty,  declaring  the 
inability  of  the  Indians  to  satisfy  the  demand ; 
but  the  bearing  of  the  Commissioners  was 
such  as  to  induce  him  to  send  back  messen 
gers,  who  procured  two  hundred  fathoms, 
11* 


126  LIFE  OF  UN  CAS. 

which  were  received  and  credited  as  an  in 
stalment.  Farther  payments  were  subse 
quently  made  at  different  times ;  but  the 
whole  amount  was  not  received  until  two 
years  afterward,  when  its  payment  was  co 
erced  by  a  military  demonstration  under  Cap 
tain  Atherton.  Although  the  Captain  had 
no  more  than  twenty  soldiers  with  him,  he 
nevertheless  marched  boldly  to  the  Court  of 
the  chief,  and  demanded  immediate  payment. 
Pessacus  had  assembled  several  hundreds  of 
his  warriors,  by  whom  he  was  surrounded 
when  Atherton  arrived.  He  at  first  refused 
an  interview,  and  evaded  the  demand — where 
upon  Atherton  entered  his  lodge  alone,  seized 
the  chief  by  the  hair  of  his  head  with  one  hand, 
and  holding  a  pistol  in  the  other,  drew  him 
from  the  midst  of  his  guards  into  the  circle 
of  his  own  men,  who  wTere  without.*  Amazed 
at  his  dauntless  bearing,  the  residue  of  the 
tribute  was  paid  upon  the  spot,  and  without 
the  show  of  resistance. 

The  venerable  Canonicus  died  in   June, 
1648,  at  a  very  advanced  age,  leaving  the 

*  Magnalia  Christi  Americana. 


DEATH  OF  CANONICUS.  127 

government  of  the  Narragansetts  to  Pessacus, 
upon  whom  was  also  detailed  the  hereditary 
quarrel  with  the  Mohegans,  and  especially 
with  Uncas,  against  whom  they  still  persisted 
in  their  murderous  designs.*  Indeed,  a  bolder 
attempt  was  made  upon  his  life,  by  assassina- 

*  It  is  but  just  to  say  of  Canonicus,  that  in  his  ex 
treme  old  age,  he  appears  not  to  have  been  cognizant  of 
the  actions  and  designs  of  his  nephew,  Miantonomoh. 
"  He  seems,  in  his  latter  days/'  says  Potter,  "  to  have 
had  many  gloomy  fears  and  forebodings  as  to  the  future 
fate  of  his  nation,  wishing,  but  yet  doubting  that  the 
English,  whom  he  had  cherished  until  they  had  now 
grown  strong,  might  return  to  his  posterity  the  kindness 
he  so  generously  bestowed  upon  them  in  their  feeble 
state."  Roger  Williams  speaks  of  him  as  "  the  old 
high  sachem,  or  wise  and  peaceful  prince,"  and  recites 
what  he  terms  a  "  solemn  oration"  made  by  Canonicus, 
in  which  he  expressed  his  apprehensions  as  to  the  good 
faith  of  the  English  and  the  fate  of  his  people.  "  If  the 
English  speak  true,  if  he  mean  truly,  then  shall  I  goe  to 
my  grave  in  peace,  and  hope  that  the  English  and  my 
posterity  shall  live  in  love  and  peace  together."  I 
replied  that  he  had  no  cause,  as  I  hoped,  to  question 
Englishmen's  faithfulnesse,  he  having  had  long  experi 
ence  of  their  friendlinesse  and  trustinesse.  He  tooke  a 
sticke,  and  broke  it  into  ten  pieces,  and  related  ten  in 
stances,  (laying  down  a  sticke  to  every  instance,)  which 
gave  him  cause  thus  to  feare  and  say." — Roger  Wil~ 
Hams' s  Key. 


128        ^  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

tion,  in  the  following  year,  than  any  of  the 
preceding  ones.  While  descending  the 
Thames,  or  Pequod  river,  in  a  vessel,  it  was 
boarded  by  an  Indian  hired  by  the  Narragan- 
setts  and  Nahantics  to  slay  him.  Taking  him 
thus  by  surprise,  the  assassin  succeeded  in 
thrusting  the  chief  through  the  breast  with  a 
sword.  The  wound,  though  severe,  was  not 
mortal ;  and  on  his  recovery,  Uncas  again 
laid  his  complaints  against  his  assailants  be 
fore  the  Commissioners.  He  likewise  com 
plained  that  the  Narragansetts  had  not  ful 
filled  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  made  four 
years  previously,  in  regard  to  the  return  of 
prisoners,  the  restoration  of  property,  &c. 
The  Indian  who  had  wounded  Uncas,  declared 
that  he  had  been  employed  to  perpetrate  the 
act  by  Ninigret  and  Pessacus, — the  former  of 
whom,  being  summoned  before  the  Commis 
sioners,  endeavoured  to  make  a  defence,  but 
it  w^as  considered  very  lame  and  unsatisfac 
tory. 

There  were  again  indications  of  a  general 
rising  among  the  Indians  against  the  colo 
nies,  and  Ninigret  was  inculpated.  Some  of 
the  Mohawks  confessed  that  they  had  been 


PEQUOD  REMNANTS.  129 

hired  against  Uncas.  Additional  alarm  was 
also  caused  by  the  fact  that  the  Pequods  who 
had  been  living  under  the  government  of 
Uncas,  had  revolted,  and  were  again  cluster 
ing  together  as  a  nation,  under  a  brother  or  a 
son  of  Sassacus,  who  was  about  to  marry  a 
daughter  of  Ninigret.  Shortly  afterward,  it 
was  reported  that  Ninigret  had  employed  a 
man  to  compass  the  death  of  Uncas  by  poi 
son  5  but  the  attempt  failed,  and  the  man  was 
put  to  death.*  Under  all  these  circumstances, 
as  well  for  the  protection  of  themselves  as 
for  the  defence  of  Uncas,  preparations  were 
once  more  made  by  the  Colonists  for  the  in 
vasion  and  effectual  chastisement  of  the  trea 
cherous  authors  of  these  continuous  troubles. 
Ninigret  appeared  now  to  be  a  more  formida 
ble  leader  than  Pessacus ;  but  a  squadron  of 
cavalry,  sent  into  his  country  by  Massa 
chusetts,  under  Captain  Davis,  moved  with 
such  spirit  and  celerity  as  to  create  a  general 
panic  among  chiefs  and  people,  and  a  paci 
fication  was  the  result,  which  lasted  several 
years. 

The  fidelity  of  Uncas  toward  the  English 

*  Hubbard,  Holmes. 


130  \  LIFE    OF    UNCAS. 

received  a  fresh  illustration  in  the  year  1645, 
which  had  the  effect  of  involving  him  in  diffi 
culty  wilh  a  strong  body  of  Indians  other 
than  the  Narragansetts.  It  was  in  this  year 
that  a  complicated  piece  of  treachery  was 
concerted  by  Sequasson,  yet  the  bitter  enemy 
of  Uncas,  who  had  conspired  the  death,  by 
assassination,  of  Governors  Hopkins  and 
Haynes,  and  also  of  Mr.  Whiting,  one  of  the 
magistrates  of  Connecticut,  for  the  doubly 
infamous  purpose  of  avenging  himself  upon 
those  distinguished  men,  because  of  their  friend 
ship  for  Uncas,  and  then  of  charging  the  mur 
ders  upon  the  latter.*  Success  in  this  nefa 
rious  plot  would  not  only  have  deprived  the 
colonists  of  three  of  their  conscript  fathers, 
but  would  of  course  have  worked  the  ruin  of 
the  great  enemy  of  the  Narragansetts  and 
their  confederates.  The  agent  employed  for 
this  work  of  assassination,  was  an  Indian  of 
the  Waronoke  tribe,  living  in  the  district  of 
country  now  comprised  in  the  town  of  West- 
field,  (Mass.)  The  Indian  had  already  re 
ceived  his  price;  but  his  heart  failed  him  in 
the  undertaking.  He  had  seen  that  an  Indian 

*  Hubbard,  Holmes. 


FIDELITY  OF  UNCAS.  131 

had  just  been  executed  at  New-Haven  for 
attempting  to  kill  a  woman  at  Stamford,  and 
the  hazard  of  "  murdering  English  Sachems," 
appeared  too  great.  He  therefore  not  only 
declined  the  fulfilment  of  his  contract,  but 
disclosed  the  conspiracy.  Sequasson  was 
thereupon  summoned  forthwith  to  appear 
before  the  Commissioners  of  the  Colonies 
at  New-Haven ;  but  instead  of  complying 
with  the  order,  he  took  refuge  with  the 
Indians  at  Pocompheake,  where  Uncas  under 
took  to  arrest  and  bring  him  in.  Being  una 
ble  to  do  it  by  force,  he  surprised  him  in  the 
night,  captured,  and  brought  him  to  Hartford, 
where  he  was  imprisoned  for  several  months. 
Yet  in  the  end  he  was  released  for  want  of 
sufficient  evidence  to  justify  his  execution.* 
The  friends  of  Sequasson  took  the  matter  of 
his  imprisonment  in  high  dudgeon  ;  and  being 
encouraged  to  hostilities  by  the  Narragansetts, 
they  raised  a  thousand  warriors  to  go  against 
Uncas,  three  hundred  of  whom  were  armed 
with  muskets,  and  were  only  restrained  from 
their  purpose  by  a  message  from  the  magis- 

*I  have  followed  Trumbull  in  this  relation.     Cotton 
Mather  dates  it  a  year  later — 1646. 


132  LIFE   OF   UNCAS. 

trates  of  Hartford,  that  Uncas  would  be  de 
fended  by  them. 

In  the  year  1648,  Uncas  again  evinced  his 
friendly  activity  in  serving  the  English.  Mr. 
John  Whittemore,  of  Stamford,  a  man  of  re 
pute  and  a  member  of  the  General  Court  at 
New-Haven,  was  murdered  by  the  Indians 
while  seeking  for  cattle  in  the  woods.  An 
Indian  youth,  son  of  a  Sachem,  carried  the 
news  of  the  murder  to  the  settlers ;  but  the 
body  of  the  deceased  could  not  be  found, 
neither  could  the  murderers  be  discovered, 
although  the  young  Indian  himself  was  sus 
pected  as  an  accomplice. 

Two  months  afterward  Uncas  repaired  to 
Stamford  with  a  body  of  his  men,  and  by  the 
aid  of  the  Sachem's  son,  and  another  suspect 
ed  Indian,  named  Kehoran,  discovered  the 
remains  of  the  murdered  man,  and  also  elicit 
ed  satisfactory  proofs  that  they  two  were,  in 
fact,  themselves  the  murderers.  Uncas 
thereupon  seized  both,  and  brought  them  to 
the  civil  authorities ;  but  while  preparations 
were  making  for  their  trial,  they  effected 
their  escape. 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1647,  and  indeed 


CHARGES  AGAINST  UNCAS.  133 

at  times  during  ten  years  thereafter,  Uncas 
was  arraigned  before  the  Commissioners, 
upon  various  charges  preferred  against  him 
by  the  Narragansetts,  and  also  by  the  frag 
ment  of  the  Pequods,  who  had  been  assigned 
to  him  after  the  subjugation  of  that  nation, 
in  1637.  It  appears  quite  evident  that  he 
had  treated  the  remains  of  this  people  with 
undue  severity  ;  and  they  now  prayed  for  the 
protection  of  the  Colonial  Government  from 
his  tyrrany.  Yet,  for  the  most  part,  the 
charges  then  and  afterward  preferred,  were 
of  a  trivial  character,  and  rather  vexatious 
than  important.  Among  other  matters  it 
was  alledged  that  his  exactions  of  tribute 
were  oppressive ;  and  that  in  their  games, 
when  the  Pequods  won  of  the  Mohegans, 
Uncas  countenanced  the  latter  in  refusing 
payment,  "  carrying  it  partial  to  the  Mohe 
gans  and  threatening  the  Pequods."  No 
great  heed  was  given  to  these  charges  by  the 
Commissioners,  and  others  of  a  like  trivial 
character.  But  it  was  not  so  with  all. 
There  was,  in  some  cases,  evidence  of  oppres 
sion  ;  and  it  was  clearly  proved,— or  rather 

the  charge  was  not  denied, — that  Uncas  had 
12 


134  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

taken  the  wife  of  Obachickaquid,  one  of  the 
surviving  Pequod  chiefs.  But  it  appeared, 
in  extenuation  of  this  offence,  that  Uncas  had 
not  in  fact  either  taken  the  woman  away 
from  her  husband,  or  kept  her  from  him. 
On  the  other  hand,  Obachickaquid  had  with 
drawn  himself  with  other  Pequods  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  Uncas,  and  his  wife  not  choos 
ing  to  accompany  him,  had  remained  behind, 
and  been  taken  to  wife,  by  Uncas,  as  was 
usual  among  the  Indians  in  cases  when  a 
wife  desires  to  depart  from  her  lord.  Never 
theless  the  Commissioners  chose  not  to  sanc 
tion  such  a  degree  of  latitude  in  the  conju 
gal  relations,  and  Uncas  was  directed  to  re 
turn  the  Pequod  his  wife.  He  was  also 
mulcted  in  a  fine  of  one  hundred  fathoms  of 
wampum.  The  Pequods  had  prayed  to  be 
allowed  to  withdraw  altogether  from  among 
the  Mohegans.  But  this  proposition  was  not 
favorably  received  by  the  Commissioners. 
Still  they  gave  licenses  to  some  of  the  Pe 
quods  to  move  back  to  their  native  territory, 
yet  "  to  live  under  the  dominion  of  Uncas." 
But  the  carriage  of  the  Chief  was  not  uni 
formly  harsh  toward  these  Pequod  remnants. 


.  ^  p^     .  .^  ,, 

ANOTHER  WAR.  135 

In  the  year  1651,  he  appeared  in  their  be 
half,  when  they  were  summoned  before  the 
Commissioners  to  account  for  the  arrearages 
of  the  tribute  imposed  upon  them  at  the  close 
of  the  war  in  1637,  and  effected  a  compro 
mise  greatly  to  their  satisfaction. 

The  year  1654  must  have  been  one  of 
great  activity  for  Uncas.  He  was  not  only 
engaged  in  a  controversy  with  the  inhabit 
ants  of  New  London,  upon  a  boundary  ques 
tion, — a  controversy  so  serious  as  to  involve 
a  temporary  occupancy  of  his  forts  and  town 
by  his  white  assailants,  and  rendering  the 
interposition  of  the  colonial  government 
necessary  to  a  pacification, — but  he  had  a 
war  upon  his  hands,  with  a  nation  of  his 
own  race.  According  to  a  memoir  of  Un 
cas  published  by  the  Massachusetts  Histori 
cal  Society  in  1804,  it  was  during  this  year 
that  he  had  a  dispute  with  Arr-ha-ma-met, 
Sachem  of  Mussauco,  now  Simsbury,  which 
brought  on  hostilities.  Uncas  sent  one  of 
his  warriors  to  burn  an  out-wigwam  belong 
ing  to  Arr-ha-ma-met,  in  the  night;  to  kill 
whatever  or  whoever  might  be  found  alive, 
and  leave  such  a  trail  as  would  be  mistak- 


136  LIFE    OF   UNCAS. 

en  for  the  foot-steps  of  the  Mohawks.  The 
orders  were  executed,  and  the  stratagem  was 
successful ;  for  instead  of  surmising  the  real 
authors  of  the  mischief,  Arr-ha-ma-met  dis 
covering  among  other  marks  some  Mohawk 
weapons  that  had  been  purposely  dropped, 
ascribed  it  to  the  Mohawks,  and  went  to  the 
north-west  in  pursuit  of  them.  Meantime 
Uncas  was  enabled  to  prepare  his  warriors- 
for  a  regular  invasion  of  Mussauco,  which 
was  subdued,  and  in  connection  with  Podunk, 
an  Indian  town  farther  south,  was  ever  aftej* 
held  tributary  by  him.*  The  cause  of  thisr 
stratagem  of  the  Mohegan  against  the  Sa 
chem  of  Mussauco  is  not  given ;  and  we  can 
only  judge  of  the  propriety  of  the  conduct  of 
Uncas  from  his  general  character,  which, 
making  due  allowances  for  circumstances, 
seems  to  have  been  eminently  frank  and 
just.f 

*  The  Podunk  Indians,  in  the  time  of  Philip's  war, 
numbered  between  two  and  three  hundred  men.  They 
went  into  the  contest  with  Philip,  and  were  never  heard 
of  afte  rward. 

f  President  Dwight  in  his  travels,  has  fallen  into  sev 
eral  gross  mistakes  in  regard  to  this  affair  with  Arr-ha- 
m£-met.  He  substitutes  the  Podunks  for  the  Massau- 


POWERS  OF  UNCAS.  137 

Within  the  two  years  next  ensuing,  the 
Mohegan  Chief  appears  to  have  experienced 
some  reverses,  for  in  1656,  he  was  again  in 
volved  in  active  hostilities  with  the  Narra- 
gansetts,  who,  leagued,  with  several  other 
nations  pressed  him  so  hard  that  the  Con 
necticut  colony  was  obliged  once  more  to 
send  a  body  of  troops  to  aid  in  his  defence. 
A  temporary  peace  ensued,  at  the  command 
of  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies ; 
— or  rather  an  armistice, — for  it  could  have 
*  heen  no  more, — since  very  shortly  afterward, 
he  is  found  again  besieged  in  his  fort  upon 
the  bank  of  the  Thames  by  the  implacable 
Narragansetts.  It  was  in  this  emergency 
that  an  incident  occurred  which  must  ever 
be  regarded  as  important  by  every  inhabitant 
of  the  romantic  and  beautiful  town  of  Nor 
wich.  So  close  and  effectual  was  the  prose 
cution  of  the  siege,  that  the  chief  and  his 

cos  ;  confounds  the  quarrel  stated  here  in  the  text  with 
one  which  Uncas  had  had  ten  or  twelve  years  before  with 
Sequasson ;  makes  the  quarrel  to  originate  between  Ton- 
tonimo,  sachem  of  the  Podunks,  and  Sequasson  ;  and  to 
crown  all,  represents  Uncas,  in  this  matter,  as  espous 
ing  the  cause,  and  acting  in  alliance  with  Sequasson  his 
bitterest  enemy. 

12* 


138  LIFE     OF   UNCAS. 

faithful  braves  were  in  danger  of  starvation. 
The  assailants  were  too  numerous  to  justify  a 
sortie,  and  the  danger  of  perishing  either  by 
famine  or  the  tomahawk  was  becoming  im 
minent,  when  Uncas  found  means  of  convey 
ing  information  of  his  distressed  condition  to 
the  garrison  of  the  colonial  fort  at  Saybrook. 
His  request  for  relief  was  enforced  by  a  cau 
tion  of  the  danger  that  would  result  to  the 
white  settlements,  should  their  friends  the 
Mohegans  be  cut  off.  In  consequence  of  this 
message,  Mr.  Thomas  Leffingwell,  an  inhabi 
tant  of  Saybrook, — an  ensign  in  the  militia, 
and  a  bold  enterprising  man, — laded  a  canoe 
with  provisions,  and  proceeding  round  into 
the  Thames  in  the  night,  succeeded  in  throw 
ing  these,  necessary  supplies  into  the  fort. 
Finding  that  the  forces  of  Uncas  had  been 
thus  relieved,  the  Narragansetts  raised  the 
siege  and  departed.  In  consideration  of  this 
timely  relief,  Uncas  made  a  voluntary  grant 
of  the  lands  upon  the  Yantic  and  Shetucket 
rivers  now  forming  the  town  of  Norwich.  A 
more  formal  deed  of  conveyance  was  execu 
ted  soon  afterward  by  Uncas  and  his  two 
sons  Oneco  and  Attawanpoad,  to  Mr.  Leffing- 


PLANTING  OF  NORWICH.  139 

well,  John  Mason,  the  Rev.  James  Fitch,  and 
their  associates,  then  of  Saybrook,  who  im 
mediately  thereafter  removed  to  the  new  ter 
ritory,  and  planted  this  ever  beautiful  town.* 
Nor  did  the  friendship  of  Uncas  and  his  peo 
ple  for  the  planters  of  Norwich  end  wTith  the 
transfer  of  the  territory.  For  many  years 
afterward  the  most  amicable  relations  were 
preserved  ;  and  in  seasons  of  peril  and  alarm, 
the  faithful  Mohegans  were  always  upon  the 
alert, — giving  prompt  information  of  every 
approach  of  danger,  and  even  removing  their 
wigwams  to  the  skirts  of  the  town,  when  it 
was  supposed  that  their  services  might  be 
necessary  in  repelling  the  dusky  invaders  in 
stigated  to  the  work  of  burning  and  massa 
cre  by  the  terrible  Philip  of  Pokonoket.f 

*  Soon  after  the  Pequod  War,  Mason  removed  from 
Windsor  to  Saybrook.  He  was  appointed  Major  General 
of  all  the  forces  of  the  colony,  and  was  afterward  sev 
eral  years  Deputy  Governor. 

f  It  is  related  «  that  at  one  time  the  enemy  came  so 
near  said  town  on  the  Sabbath  day,  as  to  view  said 
town  from  an  eminence,  and  seeing  the  said  Moheag's 
dwellings,  were  intimidated,  and  went  off  without  doing 
any  damage.  And  further  they  were  of  great  service  in 
watching  and  spying.  So  that  it  happened  that  there 


140  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

How  fitting  is  it  that  the  daughters  of  moth 
ers  thus  protected  by  the  brave  and  true  Mo- 
hegans,  should  rear  a  memorial  to  the  chief 
from  whose  example  they  were  taught  their 
rude  lessons  of  fidelity  and  valor  ! 

Uncas  lived  many  years  after  the  occuren- 
ces  just  related  ;  but  as  the  colonists  were  at 
peace  with  the  Indians  from  the  close  of  the 
difficulties  with  the  Narragansetts  till  the 
breaking  out  of  Philip's  war  in  1675,  his 
name  does  not  appear  in  subsequent  history 
in  connection  with  any  public  event  of  im 
portance.  There  is  indeed  a  letter  published 
in  ^Mlsixth  volume  of  the  Massachusetts  His 
torical  Collections,  dated  June  24th,  1675, 
stating  as  a  report,  that  Uncas  was  at  that 
time  in  communication  with  Philip,  and  upon 
certain  conditions  had  proffered  him  the  sup 
port  of  "  all  the  Indians  in  the  country 
against  the  English."  But  this  report  was 
unquestionably  without  the  slightest  founda 
tion/  in  truth.  Uncas  was  now  very  old  ;  and 
for  years  previous  the  cares  of  the  Mohegan 

were  never  but  two  men  killed  in  said  town  by  the  In 
dian  enemies,  and  one  boy  carried  away  captive,  who 
soon  was  returned  by  the  help  of  a  friendly  Indian." 


. 

MIANTONOMOH'S  SON.  141 

government  are  believed  to  have  devolved 
upon  Oneco  his  son.  And  besides,  the  fact 
is  well  known,  that  while  the  Narragansetts, 
under  Na-nunt-te-noo,  or  Canonchet,  the 
son  of  Miantonomoh,  and  as  bloody  and, 
cruel  as  he  was  fearless,  eagerly  espoused  the 
cause  of  King  Philip,  the  Mohegans  held  fast 
to  the  chain  of  friendship  with  the  colonists.* 

*  There  was  something  in  the  character  and  bearing 
of  Canonchet,  albeit  inheriting  the  pride,  and  insolence, 
and  hatred  toward  the  English,  of  his  father,  that  com 
mands  our  admiration.  In  March,  1676,  he  had  aided 
in  cutting  off  Captain  Pierce,  of  the  Plymouth  colony, 
with  fifty  Englishmen  and  twenty  friendly  Indians,  who 
were  driven  into  an  ambuscade  and  slain.  The  chief 
was  afterward  surprised  somewhere  upon  the  Black- 
stone  river,  by  Captain  Denniston  and  his  party,  and  an 
agile  Pequod  under  Denniston,  went  up  and  captured 
him.  Although  a  man  "  of  goodly  stature,  and  of  great 
strength  and  courage,  he  made  no  resistance  after  being 
taken."  A  young  man  named  Robert  Stanton,  was  the 
first  Englishman  who  approached  him.  He  commenced 
asking  him  questions,  whereupon  "  the  haughty  sachem 
looking  with  disdain  upon  his  youthful  countenance, 
replied  in  broken  English,  ( You  too  much  child  ;  no 
understand  war;  let  your  captain  come;  him  I  will 
answer.553  His  life  was  offered  him  on  condition  of 
making  peace  with  the  English  ;  but  he  spurned  the 
proposition ;  nor  would  he  even  send  one  of  his  coun- 


142  LIFE   OF   UNCAS. 

During  the  first  year  of  that  war,  two  hun 
dred  of  the  Mohegan  braves,  led  by  Oneco, 
accompanied  Major  Talcott  in  his  expedition 
to  Brookfield  and  Northampton.  Talcott 
had  but  two  hundred  and  fifty  white  soldiers ; 
yet  with  these  and  the  Mohegans,  aided  by 
the  intrepid  regicide  Goffe,  who  appeared 
like  a  spirit  to  direct  the  battle,  and  vanish 
ed  like  a  spirit  the  moment  it  was  over, — 
seven  hundred  Indians  were  defeated  atHad- 
ley,  and  the  town  saved.  In  the  following 
year,  1676,  Oneco  was  engaged  with  a  band 
of  Mohegans,  in  conjunction  with  Major 
Palms,  and  Captains  Denniston,  Avery  and 
Stanton,  in  scouring  the  Narragansett  coun 
try.*  The  consequence  of  this  fidelity  of  the 

sellers  to  the  English  upon  a  pacific  message.  When 
informed  that  he  was  to  be  put  to  death,  he  said — "  I 
like  it  well.  I  shall  die  before  my  heart  is  soft,  and  be 
fore  I  have  spoken  a  word  unworthy  of  Canonchet !" 
He  was  shot  by  Oneco,  and  the  Indians  with  him,  at 
Stonington.  Hubbard  remarks  of  the  refusal  of  Conon- 
chet  to  ask  for  peace,  that  he  "  acted  therein  as  if  by  a 
Pythagorean  metempsychosis  some  old  Roman  Ghost 
had  the  body  of  this  western  Pagan — like  Attilius 
Regulus. 

*  "Pessacus  was  killed  by  a  party  of  Mohawks,  in 
this  year  (1676,)  about  thirty  miles  above  Piscataqua, 
and  was  buried  by  order  of  Major  Waldron." — Potter. 


VINDICATION  OF  UNCAS.  143 

Mohegans  was,  that  while  the  border  towns 
of  Massachusetts  were  ravaged  by  scores, 
the  darkness  of  their  nights  illumined  by  the 
blaze  of  their  dwellings,  and  their  streams 
made  to  flow  in  crimsoned  torrents,  not  a 
drop  of  English  blood  was  shed  upon  the  soil 
of  Connecticut.  The  imputation  upon  Uncas, 
therefore,  of  having  abetted  the  cause  of  Phi 
lip,  falls  to  the  ground.  The  circumstances 
in  which  he  was  placed  in  regard  to  his  then 
recent  revolt  from  the  Pequods,  induced  him 
to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  the  English  on 
their  first  arrival  in  Connecticut ;  and  the 
alliance  then  formed  was  maintained  with 
unwavering  fidelity  to  the  end. 

Thus  much  for  the  public  career  of  this 
great  Indian  benefactor  to  the  Pilgrim  Fathers 
of  Connecticut.  It  was  a  career  full  of  dan 
ger  and  vicissitude, — remarkable,  withal,  con 
sidering  the  peculiar  and  trying  circumstances 
in  which  he  was  placed,  and  the  character  of 
the  race  whence  he  sprung,  for  its  consist 
ency.  It  remains  to  pass  in  review, — a  duty 
which  must  be  rapidly  performed, — a  few  pas 
sages  of  his  life,  and  to  dwell  for  a  short  time, 
upon  some  of  the  leading  features  of  his 


144  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

character  ; — in  doing  which  I  trust  I  shall.be 
able  to  relieve  his  fame  from  the  dark  shades 
which  several  historians,  moved  by  prejudice, 
or  writing  without  due  investigation,  have 
cast  upon  it. 

I  have  just  said  that  the  circumstances  in 
which  Uncas  was  placed  at  the  commence 
ment  of  the  colony  of  Connecticut,  induced 
him  rather  to  court  than  to  avoid  an  alliance 
with  the  strangers.  Allied  to  the  formidable 
sachem  of  the  Pequods, — the  warlike  Sas- 
sacus", — both  by  parentage  and  marriage, — the 
tyranny  of  that  haughty  chieftain  had  pro 
voked  his  revolt  at  the  head  of  those  clans 
and  dependents  of  the  Pequods  who  thencefor 
ward  constituted  the  Mohegan  nation.  From 
the  war  attending  this  revolt  he  had  just  emerg 
ed  on  the  arrival  of  the  colonists ;  and  was 
even  then  perhaps  only  exercising  a  doubtful 
sovereignty,  by  reason  of  the  hereditary  hostil 
ity  existing  between  the  Pequods  and  the  Nar- 
ragarisetts, — the  latter,  it  is  but  just  to  sup 
pose,  so  far  holding  the  Pequods  in  check  as 
to  restrain  Sassacus  from  directing  the  whole 
of  his  power  against  his  refractory  kinsman. 
There  is  no  evidence  of  previous,  or  indeed  of 


VINDICATION  OF  HIS  CHARACTER.  H5 

any  friendship  between  the  newly  founded  do 
minion  of  Uncas  and  the  Narragansetts. 
Hence  it  was  but  natural  on  the  arrival  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  emigrants,  that  Uncas  should 
seek  to  strengthen  himself  by  their  alliance, 
against  the  positive  hostility  of  the  Pequods, 
and  the  more  than  doubtful  friendship  of  the 
Narragansetts.  Nor  is  it  likely  that  he  lacked 
sagacity  to  perceive,  by  the  arms,  the  vigor 
ous  frames,  and  the  general  bearing  of  the 
strangers,  that  in  their  friendship  he  would  be 
likely  to  find  a  power  on  which  it  would  be 
safest  to  rely  in  the  hour  of  need. 

In  regard  to  the  relations  between  Uncas 
and  Miantonomoh,  the  latter  has  been  extrav 
agantly  lauded  for  various  exalted  qualities, 
and  his  execution  by  the  former,  as  has  been 
seen,  denounced  as  an  act  alike  treacherous 
and  cruel.  But  such  cannot  be  the  judg 
ment  of  impartial  history.  How  treacherous  ? 
There  is  no  evidence  that  they  were  ever 
friends, — the  chiefs  themselves  or  their  people. 
True,  a  portion  of  the  Narragansetts  marched 
with  Mason  and  Uncas  against  the  Pequods  ; 
but  Miantonomoh  himself  went  not  with  them. 

Uncas  has  been  condemned  in  connexon  with" 
13 


146  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

the  Pequod  war,  for  bearing  arms  in  alliance 
with  the  invaders,  against  his  own  race.  But 
ought  not  Miantonomoh  to  be  held  in  the 
same  condemnation  ?  Or  rather,  was  not  his 
conduct  the  more  censurable,  inasmuch  as  he 
was  in  every  sense  a  volunteer,  in  sending  his 
warriors  upon  that  expedition,  while  Uncas 
was  only  prosecuting  a  wrar  actually  existing 
as  between  himself  and  the  Pequods  ?  It  is  the 
habit,  I  know,  of  the  Rhode  Island  historians, 
to  eulogise  the  character  of  Miantonomoh, be 
cause  of  his  alledged  friendship  for  the  whites. 
But  was  he,  in  fact,  ever  their  friend  ?  It  is 
readily  granted  that  he  was  upon  the  most 
amicable  terms  with  Roger  Williams,  and  the 
schismatics  Gorton,  Randall,  Holden,  and  their 
associates  ;  and  that  they  were  indebted  to 
him  and  his  aged  uncle,  for  the  grants  of  the 
lands  they  obtained.  Yet  may  not  the  fact  of 
his  general  hostility  to  the  whites,  have  been 
the  cause  of  his  friendship  for  those  men  ?  It 
is  known  that  Canonicus,  at  the  first,  was 
only  a  friend  to  the  Plymouth  and  Massachu 
setts  colonists  upon  compulsion  ;  and  may  not 
the  friendship  of  the  old  chief  and  Miantono 
moh  for  Williams  and  Gorton,  have  arisen  from 


LIFE  OF  UNCAS.  147 

the  other  fact, — important  at  least  in  this  in 
quiry, — that  those  distinguished  men  were 
both  in  a  state  of  banishment, — exiles  from 
Massachusetts  and  Plymouth, — and  conse 
quently  not  likely  to  be  much  more  friendly 
to  their  persecutors  than  were  the  Narragan- 
setts  themselves?* 

Williams,  it  is  true,  after  his  exile,  main 
tained  friendly  relations  with  Winthrop,  and 
other  distinguished  individuals,  his  personal 
friends,  and  he  had  acted  an  important  part 
at  the  court  of  Canonicus,  in  persuading 
him  to  engage  in  the  war  of  extermination 
against  the  Pequods.  But  the  circumstances 
of  his  banishment  were  nevertheless  riot  for 
gotten  ;  while  the  yet  severer  treatment 
experienced  at  the  hands  of  the  Massachu 
setts  government  by  Gorton,  had  created 
feelings  of  hostility  that  rankled  in  his  bosom 
to  the  last.  But,  aside  from  these  considera 
tions,  and  the  original  hostility  of  Canonicus 
to  the  English,  the  conspiracies  of  Miantono- 
moh  had  shown  that  the  Narragansetts  were 

*  Winslow,  at  an  early  day,  spoke  in  his  journal  of 
Canonicus  and  the  Narragansetts  as  "  supposed  ene 
mies35  of  the  English. 


148  LIFE  OF  UN  CAS. 

not  at  heart  friends  of  the  colonists.  The  infer 
ence,  therefore,  is  entirely  warrantable,  that 
the  apparent  friendship  of  their  chiefs  for  the 
original  planters  of  Rhode  Island  arose  from 
their  greater  hatred  of  the  older  colonies.  In 
other  words,  by  aiding  in  the  establishment  of 
the  colony  of  Rhode  Island,  Canonicus  and 
Miantonomoh  probably  supposed  they  were 
acquiring  an  ally  against  Massachusetts  and 
Plymouth.*  The  encomiums  that  have  been 

*  Mr.  Potter,  in  his  history  of  the  Narragan  setts, — 
Rhode  Island  Hist.  Coll.  vol.  iii., — assists  materially  in 
the  illustration  of  this  position.  "  Roger  Williams  was 
obliged,"  he  says,  "  to  flee  from  Massachusetts  on  ac 
count  of  his  religious  creed,  and  came,  in  1636,  into  the 
territory  of  the  Narragansetts,  who  received  him  with 
open  arms.  Williams  cultivated  the  friendship  of  the 
Indians,  as  they  had  no  power  wherewith  to  oppose 
them  in  case  of  war."  ****.«  The  Colonists  and  the 
Narraganseits  being  thus  on  the  most  friendly  terms 
with  each  other,  the  enmity  felt  by  the  Puritans  toward 
Roger  Williams  was  easily  transferred  to  the  Indians 
who  had  protected  and  supported  him  under  his  afflic 
tions  and  persecutions,  and  both  were  viewed  with 
equal  dislike  ;  they  were,  one  perhaps  as  much  as  the 
other,  considered  heathen,  and  looked  upon  as  the  ene 
mies  of  the  Lord  and  his  church."  Gorton,  and  his  as 
sociates,  were  for  a  long  while  in  a  state  of  actual  hos 
tility  with  Massachusetts. 


VINDICATION  OF  UN  CAS.  149 

lavished  on  Miantonomoh  for  his  peculiar 
affection  for  his  own  race,  while  Uncas  has 
been  charged  with  a  lack  of  patriotism  in  that 
respect,  find  a  sufficient  answer  in  the  circum 
stances  of  his  embarking  in  the  Pequod  war. 

But,  I  ask  again,  in  what  respect  was* 
Uncas  treacherous  to  Miantonomoh  ?  Far 
otherwise  was  the  fact.  Almost  from  the 
hour  of  the  first  battle  with  the  Pequods? 
Miantonomoh  was  seeking  the  life  of  his 
Mohegan  rival, — stirring  up  enemies  against 
him  in  one  direction,  and  stealthily  plotting 
his  destruction  by  assassination  in  another. 
In  the  very  battle  nvwhich  he  was  so  inglo- 
riously  conquered,  and  taken  prisoner,  he 
had  stolen  upon  the  territory  of  Uncas  in 
arms,  in  an  hour  of  peace.  And  while,  dur 
ing  the  whole  intervening  period  of  six  years 
after  the  fall  of  the  Pequods,  Uncas,  with  few 
and  trifling  exceptions,  had  been  faithful  to 
the  stipulations  of  the  tripartite  treaty  between 
the  Cololonists,  the  Mohegans  and  the  Narra- 
gansetts,  Miantonomoh,  so  far  at  least  as 
Uncas  was  concerned,  had  been  false  to  all. 
In  a  word,  the  whole  conduct  of  Miantono 
moh  afforded  conclusive  evidence  that  while 
13* 


150  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

he  lived,  the  life  of  Uncas  must  have  been  in 
imminent  peril.  Under  such  circumstances? 
the  laws  of  civilized  man,  even,  would  have 
fully  justified  Uncas  in  taking  effectual  means 
for  his  own  personal  safety.  The  marvel  is 
that  he  did  not  strike  his  treacherous  antago 
nist  dead  when  first  made  a  prisoner,  or  put 
him  at  once  to  the  torture,  after  the  manner 
of  their  common  race.  The  fact  that  he  did 
not,  shows  his  generosity  ;  his  reference  of 
the  case  to  the  decision  of  the  civil  authorities 
and  the  improved  jurisprudence  of  the  colo 
nial  governments,  proves  the  good  faith  with 
which  he  observed  the  stipulations  of  the 
treaty,  and  also  illustrates  his  desire  to  be 
governed  by  the  principles  of  justice ;  while, 
in  my  humble  opinion,  the  manner  of  his  ex 
ecution,  when  compared  with  the  usages  of 
his  people,  in  which  usages  he  had  been  edu 
cated,  illustrates  his  humanity.  It  was  indeed 
charged  against  Uncas,  by  the  Narragansetts, 
that  the  latter  had  paid  him  a  ransom  for  his 
life,  and  yet  that  he  had  perfidiously  executed 
his  prisoner,  in  disregard  of  the  compact. 
But  the  charge,  though  revived  some  ten 
years  ago  in  a  historical  account  of  Provi- 


VINDICATION  OF  UNCAS.  151 

dence  published  in  the  Massachusetts  collec 
tions,  has  no  foundation  in  truth.  It  was  fully 
investigated  by  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Colonies,  when  first  preferred  against  the 
Mohegan  chief,  and  most  conclusively  re 
futed.*  The  wampum  said  to  have  been 

*  The  only  composition  of  Governor  Haynes,  of  Con 
necticut,  extant,  is  a  letter  written  by  him  to  Governor 
Winthrop,  in  December,  1643,  upon  the  subject  of  the 
conduct  of  Uncas  toward  Miantonomoh.  In  regard  to 
the  accusation  that  Uncas  had  appropriated  to  his  own 
use  goods  and  wampum  intended  for  the  ransom  of  Mi. 
antonomoh,  Governor  Haynes  discredits  it  entirely.  He 
adds  :  ee  This  I  also  know,  that  Onkus  and  his  brother, 
with  many  of  their  men.  were  at  that  place  when  Myan- 
tonimo  was  committed,  myself  and  Captain  Mason 
then  present  also.  Onkos  desired  him  to  speak  before 
us  all  ;  and  this  Myantonimo  did  then  utter  and  confess 
that  the  Mohegan  sachems  had  dealt  nobly  with  him  in 
sparing  his  life  when  they  took  him,  and  performing 
their  promise  in  bringing  him  to  the  English,  (a  thing 
the  like  he  never  knew  or  heard  of,  that  so  great  a  sa 
chem  should  be  so  dealt  withal,)  although  he  himself 
pressed  it  upon  them,  again  and  again,  (as  they  all  could 
witness,)  to  slay  him.  But  they  said  no,  but  you  shall 
be  carried  to  the  English ;  which  therefore,  should  it 
prove  other  upon  due  trial  I  should  marvel  much  ;  for 
his  own  confession,  I  should  think,  goes  far  in  the 
case."  [Mr.  Haynes  was  governor  of  Massachusetts 
in  1635,  before  his  removal  to  Connecticut.  His  letter 


152  LIFE    OF    UttCAS. 

contributed  for  his  ransom,  was  all  expended 
by  Miantonomoh  himself,  for  the  supply  of 
his  wants  while  in  confinement  at  Hartford. 
There  was  not  even  a  stipulation  for  the  pay 
ment  of  ransom, 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  after  a  careful 
examination  of  the  case,  I  am  fully  persuaded 
that  the  execution  of  Miantonomoh  was  as 
just  as  it  certainly  was  expedient.  In  regard 
to  the  character  of  Miantonomoh,  I  am  frank 
to  say,  that  aside  from  the  common  attribute 
of  mere  animal  courage,  he  possessed  not  one 
redeeming  quality.  The  only  act  of  his  life 
deserving  especial  commendation,  was  his 
reported  order  to  those  of  his  warriors  who 
went  against  the  Pequods,  to  spare  the 
women  and  children.  There  was  no  neces 
sity  for  this  order,  since  his  "  braves"  mostly 
ran  away  before  they  reached  the  field  of 
danger.  His  ambition,  perhaps,  might  have 
been  laudable ; — but  the  chief  characteristics 

cited  above  touches  upon  several  other  important  points  ; 
the  disquietude  of  the  Narragansetts  ;  the  invitation  of 
the  Mohawks  against  Uncas,  the  murder  of  a  sachem 
squaw  of  Uncas's,  &c.  &e.]— See  Trumbull  MSS.,— 
Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  vol.  i.,  3d  series. 


COURAGE  OF  UNCAS.  153 

of  his  disposition  were  those  of  dissimulation, 
blood-thirstiness,  and  treachery. 

Uncas,  beyond  all  question,  was  a  man  of 
great  personal  courage. — not  merely  animal 
courage,  for  that,  as  just  remarked  in  connec 
tion  with  the  name  of  Miantonomoh,  was 
common  to  his  race,  if  riot,  as  a  general  rule, 
to  the  whole  family  of  man.  But  his  cour 
age  was  of  a  lofty  and  chivalrous  character. 
History  presents  not  a  nobler  instance  of 
courage  united  with  magnanimity,  and  a  hu 
mane  desire  to  avoid  the  unnecessary  shed 
ding  of  blood,  than  was  exhibited  by  him  at 
the  battle  ending  upon  Sachem's  Plain,  when 
he  stepped  boldly  in  advance  of  his  braves 
and  proposed  to  Miantonomoh  that  the  war 
should  be  decided  by  themselves,  by  single 
combat.  The  lion-hearted  Richard,  of  Eng 
land,  has  been  commended  by  Lord  Coke,  for 
his  reply  to  Philip  of  France,  who  had  pro 
posed  that  the  differences  of  the  two  mon- 
archs  should  be  decided  by  five  champions 
entering  the  lists  upon  either  side.  Richard 
accepted  the  offer  upon  condition  that  the 
Kings  themselves  should  be  of  the  number  to 


154  LIFE    OF    UKCAS. 

enter  the  lists.  Edward  III.  in  the  sixteenth 
year  of  his  reign,  proposed  that  the  contro 
versy  between  himself  and  the  French  King, 
should  be  decided  by  themselves  in  single 
combat ;  and  Richard  II.  of  England,  having 
also  a  controversy  with  Charles  the  King  of 
France,  respecting  the  title  to  the  Crown  of 
the  latter,  for  the  saving  of  guiltless  Christian 
blood,  and  to  put  an  end  to  a  bloody  and 
lingering  war,  made  a  like  proposition. 
Upon  which  Coke  remarks  that  "  these  and 
the  like  offers,  proceeded  from  high  courage, 
and  greatness  of  mind."*  The  unlettered 
mind  of  Uncas  had  no  knowledge  of  these 
illustrious  examples ;  but  he  was  moved  to 
the  proposition  by  the  same  high  courage  and 
greatness  of  soul ;  and  he  as  richly  deserves 
the  meed  of  praise  from  the  historian,  as 
though  he  had  occupied  the  throne  of  the 
Norman  Conqueror,  or,  instead  of  a  panther's 

*  In  the  year  667  before  Christ,  the  Romans  and  Al- 
bans,  contending  for  superiority,  agreed  to  choose  three 
champions,  on  each  part,  to  decide  it.  The  three 
Horatii,  Roman  knights,  and  the  three  Curatii,  Albans, 
being  selected  by  their  respective  countries,  engaged 
in  that  celebrated  combat,  which,  by  the  victory  of  the 
Horatii,  subjected  and  united  Alba  to  Rome. 


HIS  PRIVATE  CHARACTER.  155 

skin,  had  worn  the  purple  robes  of  Charle 
magne. 

The  private  life  of  Uncas  was  probably 
less  exemplary  than  could  be  desired, 
though  not  deserving  of  severer  condemna 
tion  than  might  have  been  awarded  to  his 
race  in  general.  Gookin  denounced  him  as 
a  drunkard;  but  love  of  the  fire-waters  has 
ever  been  the  bane  of  his  ill-fated  people. 
Would  to  heaven  that  the  charge  of  intem 
perance  could  be  brought  against  great  men 
of  that  people  only !  He  has  been  charged 
with  tyranny  against  the  conquered  Pequods 
living  as  his  vassals.  Other  military  chief 
tains,  of  our  own  complexion^  in  later  and 
more  enlightened  days,  who  have  rendered 
great  services  to  their  country,  have  been 
subjected  to  the  same  accusation.  But  he 
took  away  the  wife  of  another.  Her  case 
was  not  one  of  aggravation  ;  nor  will  I  extend 
Ihe  parallel  by  citing  cases  of  other  military 
chieftains,  who  could  not  plead  Indian  usage 
in  extenuation.  Let  me  not,  however,  be 
understood  as  justifying  the  moral  delinquen 
cies  to  which  I  refer.  I  mean  only  to  assert, 
that  others  besides  Indians,  have  had  their 


156  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

imperfections, — great  men, — great  patriots,— 
great  benefactors  to  their  country, — statesmen 
whose  names  will  shine  in  the  pages  of  his 
tory  in  all  time; — and  farther,  to  assert, 
that  in  the  application  of  the  rules  of  right 
and  wrong,  regard  must  be  had  to  time  and 
circumstance,  and  the  measure  of  light  and 

7  O 

knowledge  enjoyed  by  those  upon  whose 
characters  we  are  called  to  sit  in  judgment. 
Tried  by  a  standard  thus  adjusted,  the  histo 
rians  of  Uncas  have  done  great  wrong  to  his 
memory. 

It  has  been  predicated  of  Uncas  that  he 
was  a  bitter  enemy  to  Christianity ;  and  the 
evidence  is  strong  that  he  was  such,  at  least 
until  a  very  late  period  of  his  life,  and  per 
haps  to  the  time  of  his  death.  But  in  this 
respect  also,  great  allowances  are  to  be  made 
in  regard  to  the  Indians  of  New  England. 
In  the  first  place,  strange  as  the  fact  may  ap 
pear,  notwithstanding  the  eminent  piety,  and 
the  burning  zeal  of  the  Puritans,  the  preach 
ing  of  the  Gospel  to  the  Indians  was  not 
thought  of  until  many  years  after  the  com 
mencement  of  the  plantations,  both  in  Mas 
sachusetts  and  Connecticut.  Far  from  this. 


HIS  RELIGIOUS   CHARACTER.  157 

the  poor  Indians  seem  to  have  been  consid 
ered  as  children  of  AzazeP — heathens  past 
hope, — possibly  without  souls, — certainly  be 
yond  the  reach  of  mercy, — who,  like  the 
Amalekites,  were  to  be  uprooted  and  extir 
pated  by  the  chosen  people.  Their  spiritual 
condition  was  therefore  entirely  neglected 
for  twenty-six  years  after  the  landing  at  Ply 
mouth,  until  Eliot,  the  great  apostle  of  the 
Indians, <c  whose  benevolence,"  to  quote  the 
words  of  Bancroft,  "  almost  amounted  to  the 
inspiration  of  genius,"  and  whose  "  uncon 
trollable  charity  welled  out  in  a  perpetual 
fountain,"  commenced  his  labours  of  love 
among  them.  This  was  in  1646.  But  there 

*  The  Hebrew  word  rendered  scape-goat  in  the  re 
ceived  version  of  the  Pentateuch.  Some  think  it 
denotes  a  horrid  precipice  over  which  the  goat,  on  the 
great  fast  of  the  expiation,  was  thrown  headlong. 
"  Witsius,  Coccecius,  and  others/'  says  the  learned 
John  Brown,  a  will  have  it  to  signify  Satan,  to  whom 
they  say  this  goat  was  abandoned  in  the  wilderness,  as 
a  type  of  Christ  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  desert,  to  be 
tempted  by  the  devil ;  or  led  by  Pilate  and  the  Jews,  to 
have  his  heel  bruised."  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  Puri 
tans,  in  the  early  days  of  New-England,  were  wont  to 
speak  of  Azazel,  as  an  evil  spirit. 
14 


158  LIFE    OF    UNCAS. 

is  no  evidence  that  any  attempts  for  the  con 
version  of  Uncas  to  Christianity  were  made  un 
til  many  long  years  after  the  first  sermon  of 
Eliot  to  the  Indians  at  Nonatum — (Newtown). 
The  earliest  notices  that  I  have  found  touching 
the  feelings  of  Uncas  in  respect  to  Christian 
ity,  are  contained  in  Gookin's  Historical  Col 
lections  of  the  Indians,  in  which  he  recorded 
a  missions  *y  visit  of  Eliot  and  himself  to 
Wabquissit,  an  Indian  town  lying  north  of 
Norwich,  upon  the  Mohegan  river,  four  or 
five  miles  within  the  border  of  Massachusetts. 
The  record  of  Gookin  is  in  these  words  : — 
"  We  being  at  Wabquissit,  at  the  sagamore's 
wigwam,  divers  of  the  principal  people  that 
were  at  home  came  to  us,  with  whom  we 
spent  a  good  part  of  the  night  in  prayer, 
singing  psalms,  and  exhortations.  There 
was  a  person  among  them,  who  sitting  mute 
a  great  space,  at  last  spoke  to  this  effect : 
That  he  was  the  agent  of  Uncas,  Sachem  of 
Mohegan,  who  challenged  right  to,  and  do 
minion  over,  the  people  of  Wabquissit.  And, 
said  he,  Uncas  is  not  well  pleased  that  the 
English  should  pass  over  Mohegan  river,  to 
call  the  Indians  to  pray  to  God.33  This  was 


HIS  RELIGIOUS  CHARACTER.  159 

in  May,  1674,  nearly  fifty  years  after  Uncas 
had  become  acquainted  with  the  English. 
The  second  notice  upon  the  subject  is  con 
tained  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Gookin,  from  the 
Rev.  James  Fitch,  the  first  minister  in  Nor 
wich,  and  one  of  its  founders.  He  speaks  of 
having  preached  to  the  Indians  at  Mohegan, 
where  Uncas  and  his  son,  and  Wanuho,  the 
sachems,  "  at  first  carried  themselves  teacha- 
bly  and  tractably."  But  these  sachems 
soon  fell  away,  and  exerted  themselves 
strongly  against  the  propagation  of  Chris 
tianity.  This  letter  is  dated  in  Novem 
ber  of  the  same  year,  and  toward  its  close 
Mr.  Fitch  says, — "  At  this  time  Uncas 
and  his  sons  seem  as  if  they  would  come  on 
again  to  attend  upon  the  ministry  of  the 
word  of  God."  Still,  the  good  minister 
doubted  his  sincerity,  questioning  whether  he 
was  not  moved  thereto  by  some  sinister  ob 
jects  which  he  indicates. 

But  it  would  seem  that  long  before  these 
efforts  were  made,  either  in  Connecticut  or 
Massachusetts,  the  Indians  had  imbibed 
strong  prejudices  against  the  religion  of  the 
colonists ;  and  Massasoit,  the  father  of  Phi- 


160  LIFE    OF   UNCAS. 

lip  of  Pokonoket, — "  he  who  had  welcomed 
the  Pilgrims  to  the  soil  of  New  England,  and 
had  opened  his  cabin  to  shelter  the  founder 
of  Rhode  Island, — had  desired  to  insert  in  a 
treaty  that  the  English  should  never  attempt 
to  convert  the  warriors  of  his  tribe  from  the 
religion  of  their  race.'*  The  Christian  sys 
tem  was  so  far  beyond  their  comprehension 
that  whenever  they  pondered  it,  their  dark 
ened  minds  were  "  in  wandering  mazes  lost." 
The  Indians  were  themselves  struck  with  the 
long  neglect  of  the  Christians  to  attempt 
their  conversion.  How  happened  it,  they  ask 
ed,  if  Christianity  is  of  such  importance,  that 
for  six  and  twenty  years  together,  the  Eng 
lish  had  said  nothing  to  them  about  it? 
They  were  perplexed  in  their  own  minds  at 
the  problems  of  the  Christian  Theology,  and 
as  often  perplexed  their  teachers  by  their 
questions.  "  What  is  a  spirit  ?"  said  the  In 
dians  of  Massachusetts  to  their  great  apostle. 
"  Can  the  soul  be  enclosed  in  iron  so  that  it 
cannot  escape  ?"  "  When  Christ  arose, 
whence  came  his  soul  ?"  "  Shall  I  know 
you  in  heaven  ?"  said  an  inquiring  red 

*  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States. 


DARK  VIEWS  OF  THE  INDIANS  161 

man.  "  Our  little  children  have  not  sinned ; 
when  they  die,  whither  do  they  go  ?"  "  Do 
they  in  Heaven  dwell  in  houses,  and  what 
do  they  do  ?"  "  Do  they  know  things  done 
here  on  earth  ?"  "  Why  did  not  God  give 
all  men  good  hearts  ?"  "  Since  God  is  all- 
powerful,  why  did  he  not  kill  the  Devil,  that 
made  men  so  bad  ?"  "  Doth  God  know  who 
shall  repent  and  believe,  and  who  not?" 
An  Indian,  after  twelve  or  fourteen  years 
instruction,  heard  a  sermon  from  the  words 
"  Save  yourselves  from  this  untoward  gener 
ation."  He  remarked  that  in  another  text 
the  Bible  said — "  We  can  do  nothing  of  our 
selves." — "  How,"  he  asked,  "  can  those  be 
reconciled?" — "You  say  the  word  is  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit  by  which  their  hearts 
were  pricked  :  How  shall  I  take  and  use  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit  to  prick  my  heart  ?" — 
"  What  was  the  sin  of  Judas,  or  how  did  he 
sin  in  betraying  Christ,  seeing  it  was  what 
God  had  appointed  1"  The  answer  was 
"  Repent,  and  be  baptized  :" — "  But  ye  do 
not  suffer  us  to  be  baptized,  therefore  I  fear 
that  none  of  the  Indians'  sins  are  forgiven, 

and  my  heart  is  weary  with  that  fear,  for  it 
14* 


162  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

is  said  by  Matthew,  '  whose  sins  ye  bind  on 
earth  are  bound  in  Heaven.'  " — "  Suppose  a 
man,  before  he  knew  God,"  inquired  a  con 
vert,  "  hath  had  two  wives ;  the  first  child 
less,  the  second  bearing  him  many  sweet 
children,  whom  he  exceedingly  loves ;  which 
of  these  two  wives  is  he  to  put  away  ?"— 
"  Suppose  a  squaw  desert  and  flee  from  her 
husband,  and  live  with  another  distant  Indi 
an,  till,  hearing  the  word,  she  repents  and 
desires  to  come  again  to  her  husband,  who 
remains  still  unmarried ;  shall  the  husband, 
upon  her  repentance,  receive  her  again  ?"* — 

*  This  array  of  questions  has,  for  the  most  part,  been 
taken  from  Bancroft,  by  whom  they  were  compiled  from 
the  Journal  of  Winthrop,  the  writings  of  Roger  Wil 
liams,  of  Eliot,  and  others.  John  Dunton,  a  bookseller 
and  copious  writer,  who  travelled  in  New-England  in 
1686,  speaks  of  having  heard  a  minister  who  under 
stood  the  Indian  language  preach  upon  the  existence  of 
a  God.  The  Indians  appeared  well  satisfied  with  his 
discourse,  his  account  of  the  creation,  &e.  "  When  he 
had  finished,  there  was  an  Indian  that  addressed  him 
self  to  a  sachem  who  was  present,  and  told  him  that 
spirits  went  up  to  heaven  and  down  to  hell,  though  our 
fathers  have  informed  us  that  they  go  to  the  south 
west.  The  sachem  asked  him  whether  he  had  seen 
some  souls  go  either  to  heaven  or  hell  The  Indian 


HIS  RELIGIOUS  CHARACTER.  163 

Many  other  curious  questions,  evincing  the 
perplexities  of  their  minds,  might  be  cited, 
but  these  are  sufficient  to  show  the  difficul 
ties  encountered  by  the  missionaries  in  teach 
ing  the  new  religion,  and  by  the  neophytes 
in  receiving  it. 

In  regard  to  the  case  of  Uncas,  there  is 
reason  for  doubt  as  to  what  was  the  exact 
state  of  his  mind,  or  the  amount  of  his  belief 
in  his  latter  days.  It  has  been  seen  by  the 
preceding  reference  to  the  letter  of  Mr.  Fitch, 
that  some  appearances  of  respect  to  the 
Christian  ministry  were  manifested  by  him 
in  1674.  Yet,  two  years  afterward,  an  event, 
regarded  as  evidently  providential,  occurred, 
which  revived  the  hopes  of  the  good  minis 
ter,  as  to  Uncas's  conviction  of  the  truth  of 

answered — "  The  minister  hain't  seen  'em,  and  yet  he 
affirms  it."  "  Perhaps  so,"  replied  the  sachem,"  but 
he  has  books  and  writings,  and  one  which  God  himself 
made,  which  treats  concerning  men's  souls  ;  and  we 
have  none,  you  know,  but  must  take  all  upon  trust." 
We  left '  em  discoursing  matters  over  thus  amongst 
themselves."  See  also  a  long  catalogue  of  curious  and 
perplexing  questions  put  by  the  Indians  to  their  teach 
ers,  as  recorded  by  Eliot,  Mass,  Hist.  Coll.  vol.  iv.,  third 
series. 


164<  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

Christianity,  if  not  as  to  his  actual  conver 
sion.  The  incident  referred  to  is  recorded 
by  Hubbard,  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Fitch 
himself.  It  appears  that  the  summer  of 
1676  was  marked  by  a  very  severe  drought  at 
Mohegan,  and  in  the  circumjacent  country. 
So  scorching  was  the  heat  that  in  August 
the  corn  was  dried  up,  while  the  fruit  and 
leaves  of  the  trees  fell  as  if  it  were  autumn. 
Some  of  the  trees  indeed  seemed  to  be  actu 
ally  dead.  The  Indians  felt  the  drought  with 
intensity,  and  resorted  to  the  incantations  of 
their  conjurors  and  medicine-men  to  procure 
rain.  But  neither  conjurations  nor  pow 
wows  would  shake  the  skies,  which  contin 
ued  as  of  brass,  while  the  earth  was  heated 
like  iron.  In  despair  of  their  own  invoca 
tions  they  came  to  Norwich,  and  besought 
Mr.  Fitch  to  implore  the  blessing  of  rain 
from  the  white  man's  God.  Mr.  Fitch  ap 
pointed  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  for  the 
occasion.  The  day  proved  clear;  but  at 
the  close  of  the  religious  services,  toward 
night-fall,  some  clouds  were  observed  to  be 
darkening  the  western  horizon.  The  next 
day  being  cloudy,  Uncas,  with  a  large 


REMARKABLE  PROVIDENCE.  165 

number  of  Indians,  repaired  to  the  house  of 
Mr.  Fitch,  still  lamenting  the  want  of  rain. 
"  If  God  shall  send  you  rain/'  said  the  min 
ister,  "  will  you  not  attribute  it  to  your  pow 
wows  ?"  "  No,"  replied  Uncas,  "  for  we 
have  done  our  utmost,  but  all  in  vain."  "  If 
you  will  declare  it  before  all  these  Indians,'' 
rejoined  Mr.  Fitch,  "  you  shall  see  what  God 
will  do  for  us;"  remarking,  at  the  same 
time,  the  frequent  and  unfailing  reception  of 
rain  by  the  Pilgrims,  in  answer  to  fasting 
and  prayer.  Uncas  thereupon  made  a  speech 
to  the  Indians,  confessing  that  if  God  should 
now  send  them  rain,  it  could  not  be  ascribed 
to  their  pow-wowing,  but  must  be  acknowl 
edged  to  be  an  answer  to  the  Englishman's 
prayer.  On  that  very  day  the  clouds  gath 
ered  with  increasing  volume  and  density ; 
and  on  the  next  there  was  such  a  copious 
rain,  that  their  river  rose  more  than  two 
feet  in  height. 

The  event  was  calculated  to  make  a  deep 
impression  upon  the  minds  of  the  Indians ; 
and  Mr.  Hubbard  records  that  Uncas  was  so 
wrought  upon  thereby  that  he  solemnly  con 
fessed  the  truth  of  the  Christian  Religion, 


166  LIFE    OF   UNCAS. 

and  the  vanity  of  his  own.  Whether  he 
died  in  that  belief  is  unknown.  In  the  year 
1679  Uncas  and  his  son  Oneco  made  a 
grant  of  six  hundred  acres  of  land  to  the  coun 
ty,  for  rebuilding  the  jail.  In  1680  the  Gene 
ral  Court  gave  its  consent  that  Uncas  should 
deed  his  lands  to  Oneco ;  and  there  is  an  in 
strument  in  existence,  dated  in  1682,  by  vir 
tue  of  which  some  relief  was  granted  by  the 
town  of  Norwich,  "  TO  THEIR  OLD  FRIEND  UN 
CAS."*  This  is  the  last  record  of  him,  al 
though  tradition  says  he  was  yet  living  four 
years  afterward.  He  was,  however,  then  a 
very  old  man  ;  and  it  is  a  source  of  gratifica 
tion  to  those  who  honor  his  memory  in  oth 
er  respects,  to  know  that  the  last  written 
passage  of  his  history  contains  a  devout 
acknowledgment  of  the  Christian's  God,  and 
records  an  act  of  homage  to  the  Saviour  of 
Man. 

Mohegan,  the  chief  town  of  Uncas,  was 
situated  in  the  section  of  country  now  form 
ing  the  adjoining  town  of  Montville,  upon 
the  western  side  of  the  river,  four  miles  below 
Norwich.  Upon  the  crest  of  a  hill,  half  a  mile 

*  See  papers  in  the  Appendix. 


. 

THE  CLAIM  OF  UNCAS.  167 

back  from  the  river,  are  the  ruins  of  what  is 
supposed  to  have  been  his  citadel.  I  have 
been  told  that  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
citadel,  near  the  water's  side,  there  is  a  rude 
recess,  environed  by  rocks,  which  still  re 
tains  the  name  of  u  THE  CHAIR  OF  UNCAS." 
The  position  is  said  to  be  excellent  as  a 
point  of  observation,  commanding  a  distant 
prospect  upon  the  river.  Here,  according  to 
the  traditions  of  the  place,  the  chief  was 
wont  to  sit  for  hours,  either  for  pleasure,  or 
with  his  eagle  gaze  to  guard  against  sur 
prise.  It  is  also  said  that  Leffingwell  land 
ed  the  supplies  of  which  I  have  spoken, 
which  he  brought  for  the  chieftain's  re 
lief  from  Saybrook,  at  this  point.  Several 
years  ago  a  gifted  son  of  song, — probably 
the  lamented  Brainerd, — wrote  a  poem  upon 
the  tradition  of  this  "  chair,"  which  was 
published  in  the  Connecticut  Mirror.  The 
following  verses,  quoted  by  Drake,  are  very 
spirited  and  beautiful : — 

"  The  monarch  sat  on  his  rocky  throne, 

Before  him  the  waters  lay ; 
His  guards  were  shapeless  columns  of  stone. 
Their  lofty  helmets  with  moss  o'ergrown, 

And  their  spears  of  the  bracken  gray. 


168  LIFE  OF  UNCAS. 

<(  His  lamps  were  the  fickle  stars,  that  beamed 

Through  the  veil  of  their  midnight  shroud  ; 
And  the  reddening  flashes  that  fitfully  gleamed 
When  the  distant  fires  of  the  war-dance  streamed, 
Where  his  foes  in  frantic  revel  screamed, 
'  Neath  their  canopy  of  cloud,"  &e. — 

In  tracing  the  history  of  the  man  in  honor 
of  whose  memory  we  are  this  day  assem 
bled,  we  have  seen  that  in  his  character  were 
mingled,  with  some  of  the  vices  of  the  sav 
age,  elements  of  goodness  and  of  greatness, 
which,  had  his  lot  been  cast  in  another  land, 
where  he  would  have  possessed  the  means 
that  civilization  gives  of  acquiring  fame, 
wrould  have  ranked  him  among  the  fore 
most  of  heroes  at  least,  if  not  of  those  great 
men  whose  renown  far  transcends  the  re 
nown  of  heroes.  In  a  different  hemisphere? 
and  belonging  to  another  race,  he  might 
have  been  at  least  a  Turenne,  a  Marlborough 
or  a  Wellington,  if  not  a  Gustavus,  a  Kosci- 
usko  or  a  Washington.  But  he  was  only  a 
red  man;  and  the  great  powers  of  mind  and 
noble  qualities  of  heart  with  which  his  Ma 
ker  had  endowed  him,  limited  in  their  action 
by  the  narrow  boundaries  of  savage  life, 


CLOSING  REFLECTIONS.  169 

found  room  and  occasion  for  such  exercise 
alone  as  was  afforded  by  the  petty  but  fero 
cious  warfare  of  tribe  against  tribe,  and  for 
such  cultivation  only  as  might  be  serviceable 
in  the  rudest  condition  of  society,  where 
strength,  and  craft,  and  courage,  are  the  most 
available,  and  therefore  the  most  admired 
qualities. 

l?et  we  must  not  forget  that  while  our  ad 
miration  is  justly  qualified  by  this  inferior 
manifestation  of  great  elements,  it  is  equally- 
just  to  make  every  allowance  for  the  circum 
stances  which  caused  that  inferiority;  and 
that  if  we  discover  much  of  evil  in  the  cha 
racter  and  conduct  of  the  red  man,  we  must 
also  award  him  higher  praise  than  would  be 
merited  by  one  of  our  own  race,  for  displays 
of  grandeur  in  mind  or  disposition.  While 
we  shudder  at  his  ferocity,  or  pity  his  limited 
range  of  understanding  and  of  knowledge, 
we  must  also  hold  him  in  greater  honor  for 
those  exhibitions  of  generosity,  of  forbear 
ance  and  magnanimity,  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  were  by  no  means  wanting  in  his  ca 
reer.  And  there  is  no  derogation  from  the 

superiority  of  our  race  in  the  honors  that  have 
lo 


170  LIFE  OF  UK  CAS. 

been  this  day  paid  to  the  memory  and  fame 
of  a  red  chief  and  warrior.  He  was  a  great 
man,  not  only  among  his  people,  but  among 
the  sons  of  men.  Wise  in  council,  brave  in 
battle,  prudent  as  a  ruler,  his  were  the  quali 
ties  which  command  admiration  in  all  time 
and  from  all  people ;  qualities  which  a  man 
honors  himself  by  respecting,  and  to  which 
woman  willingly  pays  the  higher  tribute  of 
her  admiration.  I  read  it  in  the  sparkling 
eyes  and  pleased  expression  of  the  lovely 
faces  by  which  I  am  surrounded ;  and  I  will 
venture  to  repeat,  too,  that  the  memory  of 
Uncas  has  a  peculiar  claim  upon  the  fair 
daughters  of  Norwich;  for,  as  we  have 
seen,  it  was  by  his  generosity  and  good  faith 
that,  in  its  infancy,  their  native  place  was 
saved  from  rapine  and  destruction.  Perhaps 
there  are,  among  those  whom  I  have  now  the 
honor  of  addressing,  some  descendants  of 
Fitch,  and  Mason,  and  Leffingwell ;  and  if 
any  such  are  here,  they  must  surely  behold 
with  peculiar  satisfaction  this  late  but  richly 
merited  award  of  honors  to  the  name  of  one 
in  whom  their  ancestors  found  so  true  a  friend, 
so  faithful  a  protector. 


CLOSING  REFLECTIONS.  171 

With  what  emotions,  then,  might  the  spirit 
of  Uncas  be  supposed  to  look  upon  this  scene, 
if  we  could  imagine  it  now  hovering  around 
the  spot  where  the  body  it  once  animated  was 
laid  down  for  its  last  and  long  repose !  The 
spirit  of  the  red  man  had  beheld  with  anguish 
the  gradual  extinction  of  his  race, — the  occu 
pation  of  his  forests  and  his  broad  hunting- 
grounds  by  the  dwellings  of  the  pale  faces, — 
the  triumph  of  that  civilization  which  he  ab 
horred,  over  the  wide  domain  which  once 
owned  him  for  its  lord  :  but  the  spirit  of  the 
hero  would  rejoice  in  knowing  that  his  great 
ness  was  recognised  and  honored,  and  in  see 
ing  his  renown  perpetuated,  even  by  the  hated 
and  dreaded  white  man,  in  whose  advance 
wras  written  the  destiny  of  the  Indian  to  perish. 

And  we  may  imagine,  too,  that  the  shades 
of  the  extinguished  tribes,  who  once  roamed 
in  freedom  and  dominion  over  this  whole  re 
gion,  are  gathered  round  us  at  this  moment, 
in  dim  but  close  array,  watching  with  eager 
curiosity  the  proceedings  in  which  we  are  en 
gaged.  The  scowl  of  hatred  is  on  their  dusky 
brows ;  the  fire  of  revenge  is  gleaming  in 
their  fixed  and  angry  eyes;  the  sense  of  in- 


172  LIFE  OF  UNO  AS. 

jury  and  wrong  is  burning  in  their  vindictive 
hearts; — but,  mingled  with  these  dark  pas 
sions  there  is  a  grim  delight  in  the  honors 
paid  to  a  great  man  of  their  race;  and  as 
they  gaze  upon  the  stone  that  bears  the  name 
of  UNCAS,  they  feel  as  if  they  could  almost 
forgive  the  detested  pale-faces,  who  so  well 
know  how  to  appreciate  and  exalt  the  noble 
qualities  of  their  brother. 

One  only  stands  aloof,  with  a  deeper  scowl 
upon  his  brow,  and  a  more  malignant  expres 
sion  in  his  half  averted  eyes.  It  is  Mianton- 
omoh,  the  rival  and  the  enemy  of  Uncas — the 
victim  of  his  justice.  Even  in  the  world  of 
spirits  the  sense  of  defeat  is  rankling  at  his 
heart,  and  a  keener  pang  is  added  to  all  that 
he  has  endured,  in  the  knowledge  that  the 
granite  which  the  white  man  rears  is  a  tribute 
to  the  fame  of  Miantonomoh's  Conqueror ; — 
that  it  tells  the  glory  of  him,  before  whose 
better  fortune  the  star  of  Miantonomoh  paled 
— that  it  .bears  the  name  of  UNCAS.  . 


APPENDIX. 


15* 


APPENDIX. 


OF  THE  NEW-ENGLAND  INDIANS  IN 
GENERAL. 

ACCORDING  to  Doctor  Jonathan  Edwards,  the  dis 
tinguished  President  of  Union  College,  and  son 
of  the  yet  more  distinguished  metaphysician  of 
that  name,  the  term  Mohegan  was  a  corruption,  by 
the  Anglo-Americans,  of  Muh-he-ka-neew,  the  true 
name  of  the  aborigines  to  whom  it  was  applied, — 
the  plural  of  which  is  Muh-he-ka-neok.  Doctor 
Edwards,  shortly  before  his  death, — an  event  which 
occurred  in  the  year  1801, — wrote  a  valuable  trea 
tise  upon  the  Muh-he-ka-neew  language,  for 
which  he  was  well  qualified  by  his  early  training. 
Mr.  Heckewelder  asserts  the  true  name  of  the 
Mohegans  to  be  Mahicanna.  The  Dutch  called 
them  Mahickanders  :  the  English,  Mohiccons,  Mo- 
huccans,  Muhhekaneew,  Schaticooks,  River-Indians. 
The  various  clans  of  these  Indians,  or  rather  the 
fragments  of  the  Mohegans,  Narragan setts,  &c. 
&c.  were  collected  together  at  Stockbridge,  in 
the  year  1736,  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  John 
Sargeant,  their  former  laborious  and  faithful  mis- 


176  APPENDIX. 

sitinary.  While  his  father  was  residing  at  Stock- 
bridge,  as  a  missionary  to  the  Muhhekaneok  thus 
gathered  there,  young  Edwards,  a  child,  was 
at  school  with  the  Indian  children;  and  so  inti 
mate  was  his  association  with  them,  that  he  ac 
quired  their  language  with  greater  accuracy  and 
freedom  than  his  own.  He  thought  in  Indian, 
and  spoke  in  Indian.  His  father  having  de 
signed  him  for  a  missionary  to  the  aboriginals,  he 
was  sent  to  a  settlement  of  the  Six  Nations  upon 
the  Susquehanna,  to  acquire  their  language,  which 
he  did.  Becoming  in  subsequent  years  a  thorough 
classical  scholar,  he  was  abundantly  qualified  to 
write  the  treatise  upon  Indian  languages  with 
which,  a  few  years  before  his  decease,  in  the  very 
prime  of  his  life,  he  favored  the  world. 

With  us,  the  history  of  the  Muhhekaneok,  or 
Mohegans,  commences  with  the  life  and  exploits 
of  Uncas,  as  written  in  the  preceding  discourse. 

It  was  an  observation  of  the  early  American 
writers  (says  the  Editor  of  the  tenth  volume  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Collections),  that  there 
was  but  one  principal  Indian  language  through 
out  all  New-England,  and  even  in  territories  beyond 
it.  This  observation  is  believed  to  be  in  accord 
ance  with  the  opinions  of  the  later  writers,  who 
have  taken  a  more  extended  view  of  the  various 
dialects  than  was  practicable  at  the  first  settle 
ment  of  the  country.  In  support  of  this  fact,  refer 
ence  has  been  made  to  the  opinions  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Edwards,  and  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Heckewelder;  both 


APPENDIX,  177 

of  whom  have  expressed  their  agreement  in  the 
facts  as  stated  by  the  old  writers,  and  only  differed 
from  each  other  in  this  circumstance,  that  each  of 
them  considered  the  particular  dialect  with  which 
he  happened  to  he  most  familiar,  as  the  principal 
standard  or  language,  and  the  rest  as  branches  or 
dialects  of  it.  Dr.  Edwards,  therefore,  spoke  of  the 
Mohegan  as  the  principal  or  fundamental  language 
spoken  by  all  the  Indians  of  New-England;  while 
Mr.  Heckewelder,  on  the  other  hand,  considered 
the  Delaware  (more  properly  the  Lenni  Lenape, 
or,  according  to  the  earlier  writers,  the  Lene 
Lenoppes,)  as  the  common  stock  of  the  same  dia 
lects  ;  observing  that  this  is  the  most  widely  ex 
tended  language  of  any  of  those  that  are  spoken  on 
this  side  of  the  Mississippi.  It  prevails,  he  adds» 
in  the  extensive  regions  of  Canada,  from  the  coast 
of  Labrador  to  the  mouth  of  Albany  River, 
which  falls  into  the  farthermost  part  of  Hudson's 
Bay,  and  thence  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods, 
which  forms  the  Northwestern  boundary  of  the 
United  States.  It  appears  to  be  the  language  of 
all  the  Indians  of  that  extensive  country,  except 
those  of  the  Iroquois  stock,  which  are  by  far  the 
least  numerous.* 

Of  course  every  tribe  or  nation,  as  for  example, 
the  Pequods,  Narragansetts,  Pokanokets,  the  Farm- 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  vol.  x,,  second  series — copied  in 
part,  however,  from  the  very  language  of  Hecke 
welder. 


178  APPENDIX. 

ington  Indians,  &c.  &c.,  had  their  different  dialects; 
but  the  language  of  all  was  radically  the  same. 
So  also  the  language  of  the  Dela  wares,  and  all 
their  kindred  tribes  south  to  the  country  of  the 
Choctaws,  and  west  to  the  Mississippi,  and  north 
west  to  the  Chippewas  beyond  lake  Huron, 
the  Ottawas,  Messisaugas,  the  Algonquins,  Win- 
nebagoes,  &c.  &c.  of  the  same  root.  The  parent 
stock  of  all,  however,  is  held,  by  modern  investiga 
tors,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  not  to  have  been 
the  Mohegan,  but  the  Delaware, — which  people, 
if  the  traditions  of  the  Indians  are  to  be  received, 
originally  came  from  the  West,  and  spread  them 
selves  over  the  whole  country  from  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Gulf  of  the  St.  Lawrence.*  Of  all  the  dia 
lects,  when  Edwards  wrote,  the  Chippewa  was 
held  by  the  Indians  to  be  the  most  perfect  and 
elegant,  and  was  indeed  the  court  language 
among  vall  the  nations,  tribes  and  subdivisions, 
spreading  over  the  vast  territory  which  the  Indians 
held  to  have  been  peopled  by  the  Lenni  Lenape, 
as  the  French  language  is  in  Europe.  The  Stock- 
bridge  Indians,  as  already  stated,  are  in  fact  Muh- 

*  Heckewelder  expresses  this  opinion ;  and  Mr. 
Sargeant,  a  descendant  of  the  ancient  missionary  to 
this  people,  who  has  himself  been  much  in  the  Indian, 
service,  in  a  conversation  with  the  author  a  few  years 
ago,  avowed  his  concurrence  in  the  theory  of  the  learn 
ed  Moravian,  making  the  Delawares  the  parent  peo 
ple,  and  their  language  of  course  the  parent  stock. 


APPENDIX.  179 

he-ka-neew, — their  community  having  been  remo 
deled,  for  the  most  part,  from  various  tribes  of  the 
New-England  Indians,  fleeing  before  the  Anglo- 
Saxons,  and  brought  together,  like  the  remnants  of 
what  are  called  "  The  Seven  Nations  on  the  Sea- 
Coast,"  known  at  a  later  day  in  the  State  of  New- 
York  as  the  Brotherton  Indians,  by  a  common 
cause,  if  not  calamity.  The  Choctaw  language 
was  totally  different  from  the  Mohegan;  and  the 
language  of  the  Six  Nations,  radically  different, 
from  either  and  all.  North  of  the  Choctaws* 
after  full  investigation,  Dr.  Edwards  held  that 
there  were  in  all  North  America  but  two  original 
languages — "  The  Mohegan  and  that  of  the  Six 
Nations."  Heckewelder,  Du  Ponceau,  and  Mr. 
Gallatin,  believing  the  Lenni  Lenape  to  be  the 
primitive,  would  of  course  classify  the  Mohegan 
as  a  derivative  branch. 

OF  THE  NAHANTICS. 

It  cannot  be  expected  of  me,  in  the  few  addenda 
which  I  propose  making  to  the  preceding  discourse, 
to  give  a  particular  history  of  the  Mohegans,  or  of 
the  Narragansetts  and  Nahantics,  subsequent  to 
the  death  of  the  first  Uncas.  Indeed,  this  prince 
in  fact  all  but  outlived  his  mortal  enemies  as  a  na 
tion  ;*  for,  having  joined  in  Philip's  war  against 
the  colonies,  but  about  two  hundred  of  the  Narra- 
gansett  warriors  survived  that  conflict.  The  Na- 

*  "  He  is  alive  and  well,  and  may  probably  live  to 
see  all  his  enemies  buried  before  him."— Hubbard— 
1680. 


180  APPENDIX. 

hantics,  a  powerful  branch  of  the  Narragansetts, 
wisely  kept  aloof  from  that  war,  and  were  not 
molested.  Indeed,  after  the  death  of  Philip,  and 
the  close  of  the  war,  the  Narragansetts  that  re 
mained  by  degrees  merged  themselves  with  the 
Nahantics,  and  by  their  own  name  were  in  a  meas 
ure  lost;  while  the  Nahantics  themselves  continued 
a  considerable  tribe,  governed  by  the  descendants 
of  Ninigret,  bearing  the  same  name,  for  three 
quarters  of  a  century  after  the  death  of  Uncas.  It 
was  rather  remarkable  that  notwithstanding  the 
relationship  between  the  Nahantics  and  Narragan 
setts,  and  notwithstanding  also  that  Ninigret  and 
Miantonomoh  were  near  relatives,  the  Nahantics 
seem  rarely  to  have  been  involved  in  the  Narragan- 
sett  war  with  the  Mohegans ;  while  on  the  other 
hand  Uncas  was  once  at  least  in  alliance  with 
Ninigret  in  a  war  against  the  Indians  of  Long 
Island. 

This  Ninigret  died  soon  after  Philip's  war,  at  an 
advanced  age.  By  one  wife  he  had  a  daughter, 
and  by  another  a  son,  named  Ninigret,  and  two 
daughters.  On  the  death  of  old  Ninigret,  the  first 
mentioned  daughter  succeeded  to  the  sachemdom, 
and  was  inaugurated  with  all  the  pomp  and  cere 
mony  of  which  the  Indians  were  masters.  On  her 
death  she  was  succeeded  by  her  half  brother,  Ni 
nigret,  who,  in  1709,  according  to  documents  I 
have  discovered  among  the  Johnson  manuscripts, 
made  a  grant  of  a  large  portion  of  the  lands  of  his 
people  to  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island— which  grant 


APPENDIX.  181 

gave  great,  trouble  to  the  Indians  fifty  years  after 
ward.  This  chief  died  about  the  year  1722,  leav 
ing  two  sons,  Charles  Augustus  and  George.  The 
former  succeeded  to  the  government ;  but  dying  soon, 
left  an  infant  son7  who  was  acknowledged  sachem 
by  a  portion  of  the  tribe,  while  another  and  greater 
portion  adhered  to  George,  his  uncle,  as  being  of 
the  pure  royal  blood.  The  dispute  was  encouraged 
by  the  white  people,  who  wished  to  obtain  more  of 
their  lands,  and  was  ended  only  by  the  death  of 
the  young  chief,  when  the  usurping  uncle  was 
acknowledged  by  all,  about  the  year  1735.  He 
dying,  left  three  children,  Thomas,  George,  and 
Esther.  Thomas  succeeded  to  the  "  throne "  in 
1746,  being  ten  years  old,  It  was  during  his  sway 
that  the  troubles  already  referred  to  arose  in  regard 
to  their  lands.  This  Thomas  Ninigret  made 
farther  sales  of  the  Nahantic  lands  to  Rhode  Island, 
which  act  gave  great  dissatisfaction  to  a  portion  of 
his  people.  The  malcontents  proceeded  to  depose 
him  ;  yet,  according  to  the  documents  forwarded 
to  Sir  William  Johnson,  to  whom,  as  General  Su 
perintendent  of  the  Indians,  an  appeal  was  made 
in  1763,  a  majority  of  the  tribe  adhered  to  the  sa 
chem.*  His  opponents  denied  that  he  was  their 

*  A  memorial  against  Thomas  Ninigret  and  his  pro 
ceedings,  which  I  have  found  among  the  Johnson  pa 
pers,  contains  the  names  of  fifty-five  persons.  The 
counter-memorial,  sustaining  Ninigret,  contains  one 
hundred  and  fifty-two.  Another  document  among  these 
16 


182  APPENDIX. 

legitimate  ruler ;  in  reply  to  which  the  memorial 
to  Sir  William  sets  forth  "  that  he  was  not  only 
the  legal  heir  according  to  the  course  of  descents, 
but  as  one  who  had  the  voice  of  the  tribe  upon  the 
decease  of  his  father."  The  rnemorialists  against 
the  sachem  set  forth  that  the  lands  he  had  sold 
were  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  wives  and 
children  of  many  who  had  lost  their  lives  in  the 
king's  service  in  the  late  war — (the  old  French  war 
of  1754 — 1761.)  In  one  of  their  letters  to  Sir 
William,  in  answer  to  an  objection  that  had  been 
stated,  that  the  Indians  had  no  power  to  depose  a 
sachem,  they  say : — "  It  has  always  been  a  custom 
among  us  Indians  to  crown  our  sachem  upon  con 
dition  of  his  strictly  bearing  to  the  good  of  the 
nation,  and  the  advice  of  his  friends;  and  by  break 
ing  any  of  the  laws  or  customs  of  the  nation,  he 
forfeits  his  saehemship.  In  former  times  sachems 
have  been  deposed  for  breaking  the  laws  and  cus 
toms  of  the  nation ;  and  we  have  gone  according 
to  the  laws  and  customs  of  our  nation  in  dethroning 
this  our  sachem.  As  it  was  in  the  power  of  the 
nation  to  put  him  in,  we  think  it  is  in  the  power  of 
the  same  to  turn  him  out."  The  controversy  was 
continued,  and  also  the  correspondence  with  Sir 
William,  for  several  years  ;  but  the  baronet,  though 
evidently  inclining  to  the  side  of  the  sachem,  con- 
papers,  is  a  curious  letter  addressed  to  "  Mr.  Ninigrett," 
informing  him  of  his  deposition,  and  setting  forth  the 
reasons  for  the  act.  This  paper  has  the  names  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty-six  persons. 


APPENDIX.  183 

tinually  declined  to  interfere  ;  and  the  Rhode 
Islanders  ultimately  obtained  the  lands.  This 
Ninigret  must  have  been  a  man  of  considerable 
means.  In  one  of  his  letters  to  Sir  William,  in 
which  he  certainly  made  a  good  case  for  himself, 
he  speaks  of  having  paid  the  sum  of  five  hundred 
pounds  sterling  to  a  subordinate  chief,  when  going 
to  the  war,  for  the  quit-claim  of  his  land.  This 
money  was  intended  for  the  support  of  the  war 
rior's  mother  in  the  event  of  his  fall.  The  Indians, 
many  of  them,  greatly  dissatisfied  and  discouraged, 
(according  to  Potter),  emigrated  to  New  York- 
Ninigret,  dying,  left  a  son,  also  named  George,  who 
was  killed  by  the  fall  of  a  tree,  about  two  years 
afterward.  But  little  impression  was  ever  made 
upon  the  Narragansetts  or  Nahantics  by  the  efforts 
of  their  Christian  teachers,  from  Roger  Williams 
down.  Williams  spoke  with  discouragement  upon 
the  subject.  When  Mayhew  requested  Ninigret 
to  allow  him  to  preach  to  his  people,  the  chief  bade 
him  "  Go  and  make  the  English  good  first."  A 
small  remnant  of  the  Nahantics  were  living  in 
Rhode  Island  in  1812. 

OF  THE  MOHEGANS. 

In  regard  to  the  Mohegans,  although  never  en 
gaged  in  war  against  the  Anglo-Saxons,  they,  too, 
in  obedience  to  what  seems  to  be  the  design  of  an 
inscrutable  Providence,  dooming  the  entire  race  to 
annihilation,  have  dwindled  away  to  a  mere  hand- 


.184  APPENDIX. 

ful  of  souls,  the  wreck  of  what  they  must  once 
have  been.  We  have  no  data  by  which  to  com 
pute  what  was  even  their  probable  strength  in  the 
days  of  Uncas.  At  the  time  of  his  battle  with 
Miantonomoh,  he  had  with  him  in  the  field  between 
four  and  five  hundred  warriors.  From  this  fact, 
the  writer  of  a  memoir  in  the  Massachusetts  Histo 
rical  Collections,  assuming  the  proportion  of  war 
riors  to  the  whole  number  of  the  people  as  three  to 
ten,  makes  the  whole  number  of  the  Mohegan  po 
pulation  from  1500  to  1700  souls.  But  that  cannot 
be  a  just  computation.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  Uncas  was  summoned  to  the  war-path  on  a 
sudden,  and  had  time  to  collect  only  the  warriors 
immediately  about  him — Mohegans  proper,  in  the 
chief  town.  He  had.  at  that  time,  many  subordi 
nate  sachems  under  him.  But  whatever  might 
have  been  their  entire  numbers  then,  as  has  uni 
formly  been  the  case  with  the  Indians  brought  into 
contact  with  the  white  man,  the  Mohegans  have 
dwindled  rapidly  away. 

Very  early  in  the  last  century  they  were  involved 
in  difficulties  with  the  Colonial  government,  in  re 
gard  to  their  lands,  and  appeals  were  made  by  them 
to  the  king  for  redress.  il  After  the  death  of 
Uncas,"  says  the  Rev.  Samuel  Peters,  "  his  eldest 
son,  Oneco,  became  king  of  Mohegan,  who  refused 
to  grant  any  deeds  of  lands  to  the  colony;  where 
upon,  vexed  at  his  wisdom  and  honor,  they  declar 
ed  him  an  incestuous  son,  deposed  him,  and  pro- 


APPENDIX.  185 

claimed  his  natural  brother,  Abimelech,  to  be  Sa 
chem  of  the  Mohegans."  I  have  seen  no  other 
authority  for  this  statement ;  and  the  unsupported 
testimony  of  this  reverend  historian  is  not  to  be  re 
ceived.  Nevertheless,  there  is  abundant  evidence 
that  difficulties  respecting  their  lands  did  arise  dur 
ing  the  Sachemship  of  Oneco,  which  were  not  ad 
justed  until  many  years  afterward.  It  appears 
that  in  1704  Oneco  claimed  certain  lands,  his  title 
to  which  was  contested.  "  The  Masons,  and 
others,  on  this  occasion,  preferred  a  complaint  to 
Queen  Anne,  in  favor  of  the  Indians.  The  Masons 
claimed  the  lands  purchased  by  their  ancestor,  the 
hero  of  the  Pequod  war,  in  virtue  of  a  deed  given 
to  him  by  Uncas  in  1659,  while  he  acted  as  agent 
of  the  colony,  and  denied  the  legality  of  his  surren 
der  of  them  to  the  colony,  in  the  General  Assembly, 
the  next  year.  They  insisted  that  it  respected 
nothing  more  than  the  right  of  jurisdiction,  and  that 
the  title  to  the  soil  was  vested  in  their  family  as 
guardians  or  overseers  of  the  Mohegans."*  The 
case  was  kept  in  agitation  nearly  seventy  years, 
toward  the  close  of  which  period  the  Indians  ap 
pealed  to  Sir  William  Johnson  for  his  assistance. 
Colonel  Joseph  Tracy,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the 
original  planters  of  Norwich,  wrote  a  history  of  the 
nature  and  origin  of  the  dispute  to  Sir  William— 
too  complicated  in  its  details  to  be  easily  under 
stood.  The  result,  after  several  missions  to  Eng- 

*  Memoir  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  ix. 
16* 


186  APPENDIX. 

land,  was,  that  the  case  was  decided  by  the  King 
in  Council,  just  before  the  war  of  the  revolution, 
against  the  Indians.  Their  lands  were  therefore 
gradually  narrowed  down  to  about  two  thousand 
eight  hundred  acres.  In  1705  the  Mohegans  are 
said  to  have  "  consisted  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  war 
riors,  one  hundred  of  whom  had  been  in  the  actual 
service  of  the  country  that  very  year."4  It  also  ap 
pears  that  there  was  about  the  same  number  of 
fighting  men  in  1725.  f  In  the  year  1774  there 
were  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-three 
Indians  within  the  colony  of  Connecticut,  eight 
hundred  and  forty-two  of  whom  were  within  the 
county  of  New  London.  How  many  of  them  were 
Mohegans  does  not  appear.  Probably,  however, 
the  greater  number  of  them  were  such,  the  residue 
consisting  of  Nahantics  and  Pequods. 

Until  the  year  1790  their  lands  were  held  in 
common  by  the  remains  of  the  nation ;  but  in  that 
year  they  were  divided  by  the  legislature  to  each 
family,  upon  a  principle  of  equity.  A  comfortable 
school-house  was,  at  the  same  time,  directed  to  be 
built  by  the  legislature.  The  richest  man  of  the 
tribe,  at  that  time,  was  John  Cooper,  who  possessed 
a  yoke  of  oxen  and  two  cows.  He  was,  moreover, 
their  religious  teacher.  There  were  then  "  not  more 
than  eighty  persons  of  the  tribe  remaining;  and 
with  all  their  advantages  of  improvement  in  agri 
culture  and  other  useful  knowledge,  they  were 

*  Trumbull.  f  Dr.  Stiles's  Itinerary. 


APPENDIX.  187 

then  still  distinguished  by  the  characteristic  indo 
lence,  intemperance,  and  improvidence  of  Indians."* 
In  the  year  1799  a  census  of  all  the  Mohegan  fami 
lies  was  taken,  and  their  number  was  eighty-four 
persons.  I  was  informed  by  one  of  them  on  the 
5th  of  July,  1842,  that  their  present  number  is  be 
tween  seventy  and  eighty ;  but  a  recent  publication 
in  Norwich  states  that  the  number  of  families  now 
remaining  is  only  thirteen,  numbering  between  six 
ty  and  seventy  individuals.  Their  social  condition, 
moreover,  has  been  greatly  improved  within  the  last 
thirty  years.  They  all  reside  in  comfortable  dwell 
ings,  and  some  of  the  families  appear  to  be  in  a 
good  condition  for  small  farmers.  The  oldest  per 
son  now  living  in  the  tribe  is  John  Uncas,  a  Revo 
lutionary  pensioner,  supposed  to  be  between  eighty 
and  ninety.  Their  secular  affairs  are  managed  by 
an  agent  appointed  by  the  county  court,  to  whom 
he  is  accountable  for  a  just  distribution  of  the  avails 
of  their  lands.  The  royal  blood  is  not  extinct,  and 
they  have  yet  among  them  a  female  of  the  ancient 
regeime,  whom  they  call  their  Queen. 

"  Although,"  says  Mr.  Holmes,  in  the  memoir  al 
ready  cited,  "  several  tribes  of  Indians  in  the  colo 
nies  of  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  had  attended 
to  the  gospel,  and  a  number  of  churches  had  been 
gathered  and  maintained  among  them  for  nearly  a 
century,  yet  a  very  small  impression  was  made 

*  Letter  and  Memoir  of  A.  Holmes,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll. 
vol.  ix.  First  Series. 


188  APPENDIX. 

upon  the  Mohegans  until  about  the  year  1799; 
though  great  pains  had  before  been  taken  to  win 
them  to  the  gospel."  The  zealous  but  erratic  Mr. 
Davenport  at  that  time  directed  his  zeal  toward 
their  conversion  ;  and  the  pains  which  he  took  "  to 
incline  them  to  receive  instruction"  are  said  to  have 
been  eminently  blessed.  To  the  converts  gained  at 
this  time  it  is  supposed  Trumbull  refers  when 
he  says,  "  some  few  of  the  Mohegans  have 
professed  Christianity,  and  been  admitted  to  full 
communion  in  the  North  Church  in  New-London." 
It  was  about  the  period  referred  to  above  by 
Holmes  and  Trumbuli,  that  the  celebrated  Indian 
missionary,  Samson  Occum,  began  his  religious 
teaching  among  them.  He  was  a  Mohegan  him 
self,  born  about  the  year  1723.  His  parents,  like 
the  other  Indians,  led  a  wandering  life,  depend 
ing  chiefly  upon  hunting  and  fishing  for  sub 
sistence.  Not  one  of  them  cultivated  the  land, 
and  all  dwelt  in  wigwams.  None  of  them  could 
read  when  Occum  was  a  boy.  Mr.  Jewett, 
the  minister  of  New-London,  was  accustomed 
to  preach  once  a  fortnight  at  Mohegan.  One 
man  went  among  the  Indians  to  teach  them  to 
read.  During  the  religious  excitement  about 
1739  and  1740,  several  ministers  visited  these 
Indians,  and  persuaded  them  to  repair  to  the 
neighboring  churches.  Occum  at  this  period 
became  the  subject  of  religious  impressions,  and 
was  in  distress  of  mind  for  six  months.  He  then 


APPENDIX.  189 

found  consolation.  From  this  time  he  was  desir 
ous  of  becoming  the  teacher  of  his  tribe.  He  could 
read  ly  spelling,  and  in  a  year  or  two  learned  to 
read  the  Bible.  At  the  age  of  19  he  went  to  the 
Indian  school  of  Mr.  Wheelock  of  Lebanon,  and 
remained  with  him  four  years.  He  afterward, 
in  1748,  kept  a  school  in  New-London;  but  soon 
went  to  Montauk,  on  Long  Island,  where  he  taught 
a  school  among  the  Indians  ten  or  eleven  years,  at 
the  same  time  being  a  religious  teacher  of  the  In 
dians  in  their  own  language,  and  preaching  also  to 
the  Skenecock  or  Yenecock  Indians,  distant  thirty 
miles.  During  a  revival  among  the  Montauks  many 
became  Christians.  He  lived  in  a  house  covered  with 
mats,  changing  his  abode  twice  a  year,  to  be  near 
the  planting  ground  in  the  summer  and  the  wood 
in  the  winter.  Among  his  various  toils  for  sub 
sistence,  he  was  expert  with  his  fish-hook  and 
gun ;  he  bound  old  books  for  the  East  Hampton 
people,  made  wooden  spoons,  stocked  guns,  and 
made  cedar  pails,  piggins  and  churns.  He  was 
ordained  by  the  Suffolk  Presbytery,  August  29, 
1759,  and  was  from  this  time  a  regular  member  of 
the  Presbytery. 

In  1766  Mr.  Wheelock  sent  him  to  England  with 
Mr.  Whitaker,  the  minister  of  Norwich,  to  pro 
mote  the  interests  of  Moor's  Indian  charity-school. 
He  was  the  first  Indian  preacher  who  visited  Eng 
land.  The  houses  in  which  he  preached  were 
thronged.  Between  Feb.  16,  1766,  and  July  22, 
1767,  he  preached,  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom, 


190  APPENDIX* 

between  300  and  400  sermons.  At  the  solicitation 
of  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  the  king  made  a  dona 
tion  of  about  $1000;  and  in  a  short  time  there  was 
collected,  in  England  and  Scotland,  about  $50,000, 
for  the  support  and  enlargement  of  the  Indian 
School ;  and  it  was  soon  transplanted  to  Hanover, 
N.  H.,  and  connected  with  the  Dartmouth  College. 
After  his  return  Occum  sometimes  resided  at 
Mohegan,  and  was  often  employed  in  missionary 
labors  among  distant  Indians.  In  1786  he  removed 
to  Brotherton,  in  the  Oneida  country,  some  twenty- 
five  miles  from  their  principal  castle.  The  Bro 
therton  Indians  were,  like  the  Stockbridge,  a  mix 
ed  community,  made  up  of  the  Muhhekeneok,  of 
various  clans,  but  chiefly  from  Mohegan,  and  from 
Long  Island.  This  Brotherton  clan  was  located  in. 
the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  those  from  Stock- 
bridge,  to  whom  the  Oneidas  had  previously  as 
signed  "  seats  "  in  their  country.  These  last  had 
previously  been  under  the  instruction  of  Mr.  Ed 
wards  and  Mr.  Sargeant.  Mr.  Occum  was  accom 
panied  by  a  number  of  the  Mohegans ;  and  other 
Indians  of  Connecticut,  Long  Island,  and  Rhode 
Island,  removed  about  the  same  time.  In  the  last 
years  of  his  life  he  resided  with  the  Indians  at  New  • 
Stockbridge,  where  he  di«d  in  1792,  aged  69.  The 
funeral  sermon  on  the  occasion  was  preached  by 
the  so-long  famous  missionary  among  the  Six  Na 
tions,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Kirkland.  Upward  of  300 
Indians  attended  his  funeral.  The  flattering  atten 
tions  which  he  received  in  England  might  have 


APPENDIX.  191 

awakened  some  emotions  of  pride,  and  occasioned 
some  discontent  with  his  previous  narrow  circum 
stances.  In  a  few  instances  he  was  betrayed  into 
excess  and  intemperance ;  but  then  he  humbled 
himself  and  reformed.  He  did  not,  like  many 
white  men,  destroy  himself  with  strong  drink.  Dr. 
Dwight  says,  "I  heard  Mr.  Occum  twice,  His 
discourses,  though  not  proofs  of  superior  talents, 
were  decent,  and  his  utterance,  in  some  degree, 
eloquent.  His  character,  at  times,  labored  under 
some  imputations.  Yet  there  is  good  reason  to  be 
lieve  that  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  were  unfounded ; 
and  there  is  satisfactory  evidence  that  he  was  a 
man  of  piety."  * 

Another  Mohegan  Indian,  whose  talents,  life, 
and  character  were  an  honor  to  his  race,  was  Jo 
seph  Johnson,  who  was  born  at  Mohegan  about 
1750.  He  was  the  son  of  Capt.  Joseph  Johnson, 
who  served  near  Lake  George  in  the  French  war 
of  1757,  and  who  was  a  man  cf  piety.  After  being 
educated  at  Mr.  Wheelock's  school,  at  Lebanon, 
he  was  sent,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  as  a  schoolmas 
ter,  to  the  Six  Nations  of  Indians  in  New  York,  and 
was  thus  employed  two  years.  Afterward  u  he 
wandered  up  and  down  in  this  delusive  world." 
Returning  from  a  whaling  voyage,  in  1771,  he  re 
paired  to  his  farm  at  Mohegan,  and  there,  in  a  time 
of  sickness  brought  on  by  his  vices,  became  a  Chris- 

*  This  account  of  Occum  is  chiefly  from  Allen's  Bio 
graphy. 


192  APPENDIX. 

tian  convert  by  reading  the  New  Testament  and 
Baxter's  Saints'  Rest.  It  would  seem,  from  his 
journal,  which  is  still  preserved,  that  he  experi 
enced  the  deepest  conviction  of  sin.  Afterward 
he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  was  for  years  a 
missionary  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Being  among 
the  Six  Nations  in  1776,  he  received  a  letter  from 
Washington,  dated  at  Cambridge,  Feb.  20th,  say 
ing,  "  Tell  them  that  we  don't  want  them  to  take 
up  the  hatchet  for  us,  except  they  choose  it ;  we 
only  desire  that  they  will  not  fight  against  us. 
We  want  that  the  chain  of  friendship  should  al 
ways  remain  bright  between  our  friends  of  the  Six 
Nations  and  us,  We  recommend  you  to  them, 
and  hope,  by  your  spreading  the  truths  of  the  gos 
pel  among  them,  it  will  keep  the  chain  bright.' 
His  manuscript  journal  and  sermons  display  his 
talents  and  acquaintance  with  theology.*  He  was, 
if  I  mistake  not,  son-in-law  to  Occum ;  and  some 
of  his  love-letters — curious  specimens  of  an  ama 
tory  correspondence — are  yet  in  existence. 

Yet  another  name  is  worthy  of  preservation  in 
this  connection,  Lucy  Tantequiggen,f  an  Indian, 
the  widow  of  John  T.,  who  died  at  Mohegan,  in 
June,  1830,  aged  97.  She  was  the  sister  of  Sam- 

*  Allen's  Biography. 

t  This  is  the  orthography  of  Allen's  Biography ;  but 
in  a  manuscript  among  the  Johnson  papers,  written,  be 
yond  doubt,  by  Samson  Occum  himself,  the  name  of  her 
husband  is  written  «  John  Tantuiquechen." 


APPENDIX.  193 

son  Occum,'and  a  descendant,  by  her  mother,  from 
Uncas.  She  was  regarded  as  a  pious  woman ;  in 
her  last  days  she  expressed  her  willingness  to  die, 
that  "  she  might  go  where  she  should  sin  no 
more."  In  more  modern  times,  until  after  the 
death  of  Lucy  Tantequiggen,  but  little  systema 
tic  effort  had  been  made  for  the  religious  and  so 
cial  improvement  of  their  Indians.  After  her 
death,  a  Sunday  School  was  opened  in  her  house, 
where  three  or  four  generations  of  her  descen 
dants  lived ;  and  this  commencement  of  benevo 
lent  effort  in  behalf  of  a  once  powerful  race,  has 
been  "  perseveringly  continued  among  them,  by 
one  whose  name  is  now  extensively  known  and 
honored,  but  is  nowhere  regarded  with  more  per 
fect  veneration,  than  in  this  scene  of  her  early  mis 
sionary  labors.  I  refer  to  Sarah  L.  Huntington, 
afterward  known  as  Mrs.  Smith,  of  the  Syria  mis 
sion.  She  was  indefatigable  in  her  personal  la 
bors  among  the  Mohegans,  and  in  her  well-judged 
efforts  to  obtain  aid  for  them  from  abroad. 
Through  her  instrumentality,  a  church  and  school 
house  were  built  by  the  liberality  of  individuals ; 
the  eloquent  appeals  from  her  pen  obtained  from 
the  Domestic  Missionary  Society  of  Connecticut 
aid  in  support  of  a  minister ;  and  a  share  in  the  ap 
propriations  of  the  general  Government  for  the  in 
struction  of  the  Indians,  was  secured  for  the  main 
tenance  of  a  school  among  them. 

The  settlement  of  Rev.  Anson  Gleasori,  former" 
ly  of  the  Choctaw  mission,  as  their  present  pastor 
17 


194?  APPENDIX. 

and  teacher,  with  a  female  assistant,  has  proved 
an  epoch  in  Mohegan  history.  At  that  time,  one 
aged  woman  had  been  for  years  the  only  professor 
of  religion  in  their  settlement.  Now  the  church 
numbers  more  than  sixty  native  and  white  mem 
bers.  Industry  and  sobriety,  those  virtues  so  hard 
to  engraft  upon  an  Indian  stock,  are  putting  forth 
fruits  and  buds  of  promise.  About  twenty  chil 
dren  are  under  daily  instruction. 

INSCRIPTIONS  UPON  THE  HEAD  STONES  IN  THE 
UNCAS  BURYING  GROUND. 

Among  the  inscriptions  upon  the  grave-stones 
in  the  Uncas  Burying  Ground,  the  following  have 
been  preserved : — 

Here  lies  the  body  of  Sunseeto, 

Own  son  to  Uncas,  grandson  to  Oneco. 

Who  were  the  famous  Sachems  of  Mohegan, 

But  now  they  are  all  dead,  I  think  it  is  Weerheegan.* 

The  next  in  date  is  the  inscription  of  a  contem 
porary,  and  probably  a  brother  of  the  preceding ;  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  term  "  weerheegan"  is  here 
repeated  in  a  sense  somewhat  different  from  the 
translation  of  President  Stiles. 

"  Here  lies  Sam  Uncas,  the  second  and  beloved 
son  of  his  father,  John  Uncas,  who  was  the  grand- 

*  The  meaning  of  this  word,  according  to  Doctor 
Stiles,  is  «  All  is  well,"  or  "  Good  news." 


APPENDIX.  195 

son  of  Uncas  Grand  Sachem.     He  died  July  31st, 
1741,  in  the  28  year  of  his  age. 

For  beauty,  wit — for  sterling  sense, 

For  temper  mild,  for  eloquence, 

For  courage  bold,  for  things  waureegan, 

He  was  the  glory  of  Mohegan — 

Whose  death  hath  caused  great  lamentation, 

Both  to  ye  English  and  y9  Indian  nation." 

This  epithaph  is  said  to  have  been  written  by 
Colonel,  or  Doctor  Joseph  Tracy,  to  whom  I  have 
already  had  occasion  to  refer.  A  writer  in  Barber's 
Historical  Collections,  says  Weerheegan  signifies 
costly  clothes  or  household  furniture. 

In  his  letter  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  heretofore 
quoted,  Mr.  Tracy  speaks  of  Benjamin  Uncas,  as 
a  Sachem  of  doubtful  right  to  the  succession. 
That  is,  it  appears  the  Indians  were  not  disposed 
to  acknowledge  him ;  and  the  white  people,  in  the 
course  of  the  land  disputes  heretofore  noticed, 
threatened  to  bring  the  Mohawks  upon  them,  and 
destroy  them,  unless  they  received  the  said  Ben 
jamin  Uncas  as  their  Sachem.  The  Mohegans 
were  alarmed  at  the  threat,  and  commenced  build 
ing  a  fort  for  their  defence,  until,  finding  that  the 
threat  was  idle,  they  desisted  from  their  work, 
It  is  probable  that  Benjamin  succeeded  in  his  am 
bitious  designs.  At  least  I  judge  so  from  the  next 
inscriptions : 


196  APPENDIX. 

"  Here  lies  yc  body  of  Pompi  Uncas,  son  of  Benja 
min  and  Ann  Uncas,  and  of  ye  royal  blood,  who 
died  May  ye  1,  1740,  in  yc  21  year  of  his  age. 

Here  lies  the  body  of  {wo  infant  children  of  Ben 
jamin  Uncas,  Ivn.,  and  Ann  Uncas,  of  royal  blood 
—died  November  ye  8,  1738,  ye  other  December 
the  10th,  1741. 

In  memory  of  young  Seasar  Jonus,  who  died 
April  30,  1749,  in  the  28  year  of  his  age.  And  he 
was  couzin  to  Uncas. 

In  memory  of  Elizabeth  Joquib,  the  daughter  of 
Mohomet,  great  grand-children  to  ye  first  Uncas, 
Sachem  of  Mohegan,  who  died  July  the  3,  1756, 
aged  33. 

In  memory  of  Elizabeth  Begneck,  great  grand 
child  of  Uncas  Sachem  of  Mohegan,  who  died  Oc 
tober  20,  A.  D.  1761,  aged  14  years. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  John  Lathrop,  of  Boston,  about  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  gave  Dr.  Holmes, 
the  Annalist,  some  information  respecting  Jacob 
Uncas,  who  had  been  his,  (Lathrop's)  pupil  while 
he  was  an  assistant  in  Dr.  Wheelock's  Indian  Chari 
ty  School,  at  Lebanon.  The  Doctor  said  he  was  a 
fat  fellow,  of  dull  intellectual  parts,  as  was  his 
father  before  him,  whom  also  the  Doctor  well  re 
membered. 

The  following  interesting  account  of  another  of 
the  Uncas  family,  is  from  the  Auto-biography  of 
the  veneral  Colonel  John  Trumbull,  published  in 
1841:— 

"  About  the  year  1776  a  circumstance  occurred, 
which  deserves  to  be  written  on  adamant.  In  the 
wars  of  New-England  with  the  Aborigines,  the 
Mohegan  tribe  of  Indians  early  became  the  friends 
of  the  English.  Their  favorite  ground  was  on  the 


APPENDIX.  197 

banks  of  the  river  (now  the  Thames,)  between 
New  London  and  Norwich.  A  small  remnant  of 
theMohegans  still  exist,  and  they  are  sacredly  pro 
tected  in  the  pessession  of  their  favorite  domain  on 
the  banks  of  the  Thames.  The  government  of 
this  tribe  had  become  hereditary  in  the  family  of 
the  celebrated  Uncas.  During  the  time  of  my 
father's  mercantile  prosperity,  he  had  employed 
several  Indians  of  this  tribe  in  hunting  animals, 
whose  skins  were  valuable  for  their  fur.  Among 
these  hunters  was  one  named  Zachary,  of  the  royal 
race,  an  excellent  hunter,  but  as  drunken  and 
worthless  an  Indian  as  ever  lived.  When  he  had 
somewhere  passed  the  age  of  fifty,  several  mem 
bers  of  the  royal  family  who  stood  between  Zacha 
ry  and  the  throne  of  his  tribe,  died,  and  he  found 
himself  with  only  one  life  between  him  and  the 
empire.  In  this  moment  his  better  genius  resumed 
its  sway,  and  he  reflected  seriously.  u  How  can 
such  a  drunken  wretch  as  I  am  aspire  to  to  be  the 
chief  of  this  honorable  race?  What  will  my  peo 
ple  say  ?  and  how  will  the  shades  of  my  noble  an 
cestors  look  down  indignant  upon  such  a  base  suc 
cessor  ?  Can  I  succeed  to  the  great  Uncas  ?  I  will 
drink  no  more  !"  He  solemnly  resolved  never  again 
to  taste  any  drink  but  water,  and  he  kept  his  resolu 
tion. 

I  had  heard  this  story  and  did  not  entirely  be 
lieve  it ;  for  young  as  I  was,  I  already  partook  in 
the  prevailing  contempt  for  Indians.  In  the  be 
ginning  of  May,  the  annual  election  of  the  principal 
officers  of  the  (then)  colony  was  held  at  Hartford, 
the  capital.  My  father  attended  officially,  and  it 
was  customary  for  the  chief  of  the  Mohegans  also 
to  attend.  Zachary  had  succeeded  to  the  rule  of 
his  tribe.  My  father's  house  was  situated  about 
midway  on  the  road  between  Mohegan  and  Hart 
ford,  and  the  old  chief  was  in  the  habit  of  coming 
17* 


198  APPENDIX. 

a  few  days  before  the  election,  and  dining  with  his 
brother  governor.  One  day  the  mischievous  thought 
struck  me,  to  try  the  sincerity  of  the  old  man's 
temperance.  The  family  were  seated  at  dinner, 
and  there  was  excellent  home-brewed  beer  on  the 
table.  I  addressed  the  old  chief — "  Zachary,  this 
beer  is  excellent;  will  you  taste  it?"  The  old 
man  dropped  his  knife  and  fork — leaned  forward 
with  a  stern  intensity  of  expression;  his  black  eye 
sparkling  with  indignation  was  fixed  fipon  me. 
"John,"  said  he,  "you  do  not  know  what  you  are 
doing.  You  are  serving  the  devil,  boy  !  Do  you 
know  that  I  am  an  Indian  ?  I  tell  you  that  I  am, 
and  that,  if  I  should  but  taste  your  beer,  I  could 
not  stop  until  I  got  to  rum,  and  become  again  the 
drunken,  contemptible  wretch  your  father  remem 
bers  me  to  have  been.  John,  while  you  live, 
never  again  tempt  any  man  to  break  a  good  resolu 
tion." 

Socrates  never  uttered  a  more  valuable  precept. 
Demosthenes  could  not  have  given  it  in  more 
solemn  tones  of  eloquence.  I  was  thunderstruck. 
My  parents  were  deeply  affected.  They  looked  at 
each  other,  at  me,  and  at  the  venerable  old  Indian, 
with  deep  feelings  of  awe  and  respect.  They  af 
terwards  frequently  reminded  me  of  the  scene,  and 
charged  me  never  to  forget  it  Zachary  lived  to 
pass  the  age  of  eighty,  and  sacredly  kept  his  res 
olution.  He  lies  buried  in  the  royal  burial  place 
of  his  tribe,  near  the  beautiful  falls  of  the  Yantic, 
the  western  branch  of  the  Thames,  in  Norwich,  on 
land  now  occupied  by  my  friend,  Calvin  Goddard, 
Esq.  I  visited  the  grave  of  the  old  chief  lately, 
and  repeated  to  myself  his  inestimable  lesson." 

Two  other  members  of  the  family,  Noah  and 
John  Uncas,  are  spoken  of  by  Allen  as  living  in 
1800,  but  I  have  heard  nothing  of  their  career.  In 


APPENDIX.  199 

1826,  a  descendant  of  Uncas,  named  Ezekiel 
Mazeon,  aged  twenty-seven,  was  buried  in  the  royal 
burying  ground.  The  funeral  was  attended  by  the 
Rev.  William  Palmer,  who  made  a  short  and  ap 
propriate  address  to  the  remnant  of  the  tribe  as 
sembled  on  that  occasion.  After  the  funeral  rites 
were  over,  Mrs.  Goddard,  the  lady  of  the  late  Hon. 

Calvin  Goddard,  entertained  the  tribe  with  a  colla 
tion. 

None  but  the  descendants  of  the  royal  family 
were  ever  allowed  to  be  interred  in  this  place  of 
burial ;  and  in  all  their  land-sales  or  gifts  to  the 
colonists,  the  Indians  were  ever  careful  to  re 
serve  the  use  of  this  beautiful  spot.  Hence  in 
1661,  and  also  in  later  years,  the  records  declare 
that  "  the  Indians  are  to  have  the  liberty  to  pass 
and  repass  from  the  Cove,  up  the  hollow,  and  not 
to  be  molested." 

UNCAS'S  DEED  OF  NORWICH. 

Deed  from  ONKOS,  and  his  Sons,  ONECO  and  AT- 
TAWANHOOD,  Sachems  of  Mohegan,  of  a  Tract  of 
Land  nine  miles  square,  for  the  settlement  of  the 
town  of  Norwich— Anno  Domini  1659. 

Know  All  men  that  Onkos,  Owanecco  and  At- 
tawanhood,  Sachems  of  Mohegan,  have  bargained, 
sold  and  passed  over,  and  doe  by  these  presents  sell 
and  pass  over  unto  the  Town  and  Inhabitants  of 
Norwich,  nine  miles  square  of  land,  lyeing  and  be 
ing  at  Mohegan  and  the  parts  thereunto  adjoyning 
with  all  ponds,  Rivers,  woods,  quaries,  mines,  with 
all  Royalties,  privileges  and  appurtenances  there 
unto  belonging,  to  them  the  said  Inhabitants  of 


200  APPENDIX. 

Norwich,  their  heirs  and  successors  forever,  the  sd 
lands  are  to  be  bounded  as  followeth,  viz,,  to  the 
southward  on  the  west  side  of  the  Great  River  ye 
line  is  to  be  Gin  at  the  Brooke  falling  into  the  head 
of  Trading  cove,  and  soe  to  run  west  norwest  seven 
miles  ;  from  thence  the  line  to  run  nor  northeast 
nine  miles;  and  on  the  East  side  the  aforesaid 
River  to  the  southward,  the  line  is  to  joyne  into  the 
New  Lowndon  Bounds  as  it  is  now  laid  out,  and 
soe  to  run  east  Two  miles  from  the  forsed  River, 
and  so  from  thence  the  line  is  to  Run  nor  noreast 
nine  miles,  and  from  thence  to  Run  nor  norwest 
nine  miles  to  meet  with  the  western  line.  In  con 
sideration  thereof  the  said  Onkos,  Owanecco,  and 
Attawanhood,  doe  acknowledge  to  have  received  of 
the  parties  aforesaid,  the  full  and  just  sum  of  seven 
ty  pounds,  and  doe  promise  and  engage  ourselves, 
heirs  and  successors  to  warrant  the  sd  Bargen  and 
sale  to  the  aforesd  parties,  to  their  heirs  and  suc 
cessors  and  them  to  Defend  from  all  claimes  and 
molestation  from  any  whatsoever.  In  witness 
whereof  wee  have  hereunto  set  to  our  hands  this 
sixth  day  of  June  Anno  1659. 


ONKOS, 

OWANECO, 

ATTAWANHOOD, 


Witness  hereunto, 
John  Mason. 
Thomas  Tracy. 

This  Deed  is  Recorded  in  the  County  Booke 
August  20th,  1663  :  as  Ateste, 

JOHN  ALLYN,  Sec'y- 


APPENDIX.  201 

LAST   DAYS  OF  UNCAS. 
[Before  his  death  Uncas  must  have  been  greatly 
reduced,  both  in  the  extent  of  his  dominions,  and 
in  his  other  property,  as  the  following  account  bears 
record  :~j 

Whereas  Uncas,  Sachem  of  Mohegan,  hath  of 
late  made  application  to  the  Town  of  Norwich  for 
some  Releife  with  Reference  to  a  small  Tract  of 
Land  which  fell  oufto  be  within  the  bounds  of  the 
Town,  on  the  south  Bounds,  over  the  Traiding 
Cove  Brook.  This  Town,  Considering  of  his  Re 
quest  and  of  him  as  an  OLD  FRIEND,  see  Cause  to 
Gratify  him  with  the  said  Land  as  a  Gift  to  him  & 
his  heirs  forever,  and  Whereas  the  sd  Uncas  doth 
also  Recon  upon  three  pounds  yet  due  to  him  as 
arrears  of  the  payment  of  the  purchas  of  Norwich 
Township,  though  there  is  nothing  appearing  how 
the  said  money  is  due,  neither  by  written  nor  any 
other  Evidence — Yet  nothwi:hstanding  the  Town 
have  Granted  his  desire  as  not  willing  to  dissatisfie 
an  OLD  FRIEND  in  such  a  small  matter,  and  the 
said  Uncas  Also  Declaring  himself  to  be  in  some 
fears  Respecting  his  Posterity,  whether  they  may 
not  be  infringed  of  their  Liberty  of  Fishing  and 
making  use  of  the  liivers  &  other  Royalties  by 
some  English;  that"  being  the  Reason  why  he 
Gave  place  at  the  first  that  we  should  Run  the 
Line  of  the  Two  miles  on  the  East  side  of  the 
Great  River,  Beginning  at  the  River:  We  also 
satisfie  him  in  this  writing  about  it,  that  he  and  his 
successors  shall  from  Time  to  Time,  and  at  all 
times  have  full  and  free  Liberty  to  make  use  of  the 
Rivers  and  ponds,  with  other  Royalties  as  above- 
said,  not  debaring  Ourselves,  and  having  thus  done, 
we  whose  names  are  subscribed  being  appointed 
by  the  Town  of  Norwich  to  treat  with  him  the 


202  APPENDIX. 

said  Uncas  upon  the  premises,  or  any  thing  Ebe 
that  might  Conduce  to  mutual  satisfaction,  we 
asked  him  whether  now  he  was  fully  satisfied  as 
to  the  former,  so  Concerning  any  thing  Elce  de 
pending  between  him  and  us,  and  he  hath  declared 
himself:  as  witness  by  his  hand  that  he  is  FULLY 
SATISFIED  with  us  as  concerning  the  premises,  so 
Respecting  all  our  Bounds  and  boundaries,  and 
particularly  Concerning  the  Running  of  the  Line 
on  the  East  side  of  the  River,  and  Concerning  the 
beginning  of  the  said  Line  at  the  River,  and  the 
end  of  said  Line  to  a  Tree  marked  near  the  D  wel- 
linghouse  of  Robert  Allen :  Dated  at  Norwich, 
September  1st,  1622: 

the  mark  f.XJJ  of  UNCAS. 

Thomas  Leffingwell.  "| 
William  Backus.          !      Entered  in  Libr  the  se- 
John  Birchard.  [  cond  folio  1st ,  Obtober  18th, 

John  Tracy.  j  1682. 

By  me;  CHRISTOPHER  HUNTINGTON,  Recorder. 


DEED  FROM  ONECO,  SON  OF  UNCAS, 
TO  THE  MOHEGANS. 

Knowe  All  whom  it  Doth  or  may  Concerne,  that 
i,  Oneco,  Sachm  of  Mohegan,  have  and  doe  by  these 
presents  pass  over  my  righte  of  all  that  tracte  of 
land  between  Newlondon  Towne  lands  and  trading 
Cove  Brooke,  unto  the  Moheagen  Indians  for  theire 
use  to  plant,  that  neither  i  nor  my  son  nor  any  un 
der  him  shall  at  any  time  make  seale  of  any  part 
thereof,  and  that  the  track  of  land  shall  be  and  re- 
maine  forever  for  the  use  of  the  Mohegans  and  my 
self,  and  mine  to  occipy  and  emprove  for  our  mu- 


APPENDIX. 


203 


tuall  advantage  for  ever,  as  witness  my  seale  and 
marke,  this  the  6th  of  March,  1693—4- 

his 

ONECO. 


Seale. 


Witness, 

THOMAS  SLUMAN, 
JONATHAN  FOWLER. 

Signed  and  acknowledged  before  me,  March  the 
6th,  1693—4. 

JAMES  FITCH,  Assis't. 


MAWHOMOTT. 

Att  a  Generall  Court  Held  at  Hartford,  October 
13th,  1692 :  This  Court  upon  Request  of  Owanecoe 
doe  fully  approve  of  those  Lands  of  Uncas,  which 
were  by  him  given  to  Josiah,  who  is  since  deceased, 
be  and  belong  to  Mawhomott  for  the  future,  and 
doe  declare  that  Mawhomott  is  and  ought  to  be 
the  next  Rightfull  Sachem  of  Mowheeg  after 
Owanecoe. 

And  whereas  Owanecoe  bath  desired  that  his 
fathers  Lands  Recorded  to  him,  may  be  Confirmed 
to  him  and  his  Son  Mawhomott,  and  that  they 
may  not  pass  it  away  to  any,  without  it  be  by  the 
Consent  of  Capt.  Sam'L  Mason,  and  be  acknowl 
edged  before  him,  which  this  Court  allows  of. 

A  true  Copy  of  the  Record.    Test. 

CALEB  STANLY,  Sec'y- 


204  APPENDIX. 

OF  THE  PEQUODS. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  notwithstanding  the 
pains  taken  by  the  early  colonists  to  extirpate  the 
Pequods,  or  to  extinguish  their  name,  a  remnant  of 
the  race,  and  the  name  also,  were  preserved  in  their 
ancient  country  for  more  than  a  century  after  the 
enactments  directed  to  that  end.  Among  the  John 
son  papers,  there  is  a  letter  to  the  Baronet,  written 
in  1764,  from  the  town  of  Lyme,  signed  by 
a  dozen  Pequods,  acting  probably,  as  a  committee. 
In  a  letter  to  the  Publishing  Committee  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  by  William  T. 
Williams,  Esq.  of  Lebanon,  dated  July,  1832,  he 
says : — "  There  is  a  remnant  of  the  Pequods  still 
existing.  They  live  in  the  town  of  Groton,  and 
amount  to  about  forty  souls,  in  all,  or  perhaps  a 
few  more,  or  less,  but  they  have  about  eleven  hun- 
dr  1  acres  of  poor  land  reserved  to  them  in  Groton, 
on  which  they  live.  They  are  more  mixed  than 
the  Mohegans  with  negro  and  white  blood,  yet  are 
a  distinct  tribe,  and  still  retain  a  hatred  to  the  Mo 
hegans.  A  short  time  since  I  had  an  opportunity 
of  seeing  most  of  the  tribe  together.  They  are 
more  vicious,  and  not  so  decent  or  good-looking  a 
people  as  the  Mohegans.  This,  however,  may  be 
owing  to  their  being  more  mixed  with  other  blood. 
It  is  very  rare  that  there  are  any  intermarriages 
with  either  of  the  tribes  to  each  other ; — they  still, 
so  far  as  circumstances  admit,  retaining  the  ancient 
grudge.  The  most  common  family  name  among 
them  is  Meazen.  Nearly  half  of  the  survivors  call 
hemselves  by  that  name. " 


APPENDIX.  205 


SASSACUS. 

Shall  no  memorial  in  the  land 
Remain  of  Sassacus  ?     Like  sand 
Beat  by  the  sea,  shall  every  trace 
Of  the  Great  Spirit  of  his  race 
Be  swept  away  ? 

Once,  on  yon  mount*  the  Pequot  stood. 
And  gazed  o'er  all  the  world  of  wood, 
Eyed  the  blue  Sound,  and  scann'd  the  bays, 
Distinct  in  evening's  mellow  rays. 
Like  a  green  map  lay  all  below, 
With  glittering  veins  where  rivers  flow. 
The  distance  stretched  in  haze  away, 
As  from  his  Mount  by  Mystic  bay, 
Whence,  as  the  calumet  went  round, 
His  eyes  could  measure  all  the  Sound, 
Or  in  the  boundless  ocean  find 
Delight  for  his  untutored  mind. 
Eastward  he  turns  his  glistening  eye, 
There,  where  his  throne,  his  people  lie, 
Lie  prostrate — subjects,  children,  power, 
All,  all  extinguished  in  an  hour. 

The  heart-wrung  savage  turns  aside — 
But  no  tear  stained  a  Pequot's  pride ; 
The  dark  hand  spread  upon  his  breast, 
Only,  the  wampum  grasped,  and  pressed ; 
He  turned — he  stooped — took  one  last  view — 
And  then,  like  Regulus,  withdrew. 
These  mountains,  rivers,  woods  and  plain, 
Ne'er  saw  the  Pequot  King  again  ; 
Far  in  the  regions  of  the  west, 
The  Mohawk  sent  him  to  his  rest. 

HILLHOUSE. 


*  Groton  Heights. 
18 


206  APPENDIX. 

CAPTAIN  UNDERBILL, 

One  of  the  indomitable  heroes  of  the  Pequod  War, 
declared  by  an  early  writers  to  have  been  one  of  the 
chief  of  the  Boston  enthusiasts,  (see  page  46  of 
the  present  volume,)  seems  to  have  been  a  very 
brave  man,  but  his  career  was  remarkable.  It  ap 
pears  from  a  long  entry  in  Governor  Winthrop's 
Journal,  in  1640,  that  Underbill,  for  many  grievous 
sins,  one  of  which  was  adultery,  had  been  excom 
municated  from  the  church,  and  banished.  After 
sore  and  apparently  sincere  repentance,  he  had  safe 
conduct  from  the  Governor  to  come  back,  and 
shrive  himself,  clad  like  a  penitent,  before  the 
whole  church.  He  did  so,  in  the  most  humble, 
•  full  and  penitent  manner — weeping  so  as  almost  to 
choke  his  utterance.  He  afterward  removed  to 
Stamford,  Connecticut,  and  in  1643,  was  a  delegate 
to  the  General  Court,  and  an  Assistant  Justice  of 
the  Peace.  He  had  served  as  a  British  officer  in 
the  Low  Countries,  in  Ireland  and  in  Cadiz.  In 
the  year  last  mentioned  he  was  sent  for  by  the 
Dutch  Governor  of  New  Amsterdam,  to  command 
in  the  war  against  the  Indians,  which  was  closed 
by  the  battle  at  Horse  Neck,  in  1640.  After  the 
war  he  settled  at  Flushing,  L.  I. — Afterward  he 
was  a  member  of  Nicholl's's  Assembly,  at  Hemp- 
stead,  from  Oyster  Bay,  and  was  subsequently  Un- 
der-Sheriff  for  Queens  County.  He  died  at  Oyster 
Bay,  in  1672, 


APPENDIX.  207 


OF  LYON  GARDINER. 

The  following  extract  respecting  Lyon  Gardiner, 
the  builder  and  first  commander  of  the  fort  at  Say- 
brook,  and  the  head  of  the  family  of  Gardiner's 
Island,  is  copied  from  Barber's  Historical  Col 
lections,  in  the  account  given  therein  of  the  city  of 
Hartford  :~ 

"The  following  epitaphs  and  inscriptions  are 
copied  from  a  monument  in  the  ancient  burying- 
ground  in  the  rear  of  the  Centre  Church  in  the  city 
of  Hartford. 

"  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Mr.  David  Gardiner,  of 
Gardener's  Island,  deceased  July  10,  1689,  in  the 
fifty-fovrth  year  of  his  age.  Well — sick — dead,  in 
one  hovres  space. 

" c  Engrave  the  remembrance  of  death  on  mine  heart. 
When  as  thov  dost  see  how  swiftly  hovrs  depart.'  " 

"  The  above  inscription  is  on  a  plain  slab  of  red 
sand  stone,  a  little  north  of  the  central  part  of  the 
yard.  David  Gardiner,  whose  death  it  records,  was 
the  first  white  child  born  in  Connecticut.  He  re 
moved,  it  appears,  with  his  father,  Lyon  Gardener, 
to  Gardener's  Island,  and  coming  to  Hartford, 
probably  on  a  public  business,  died  suddenly.  The 
stone  is  placed  horizontally  on  his  grave,  and  hav 
ing  been  partly  embedded  in  the  earth,  the  inscrip 
tion  was  with  some  difficulty  decyphered.  John  G. 
Gardiner,  Esq.,  the  present  proprietor  of  Gardiner's 


208  APPENDIX. 

Island,  states  that  his  father  erected  a  monument 
to  the  memory  of  his  ancestors  on  the  island,  in 
June,  1806, — on  which  monument  it  is  stated  that 
Lyon  Gardiner  died  in  1663.  *  David,  his  son,  born 
at  Saybrook,  April  29,  1636,  the  first  white  child 
born  in  Connecticut,  died  16 — .  Mary,  his  wife 
whom  he  married  at  Westminster,  (England)  died 
16—.'  It  appears  by  this  that  the  Mr.  Gardiner 
who  erected  the  monument,  did  not  know  at  what 
time  or  at  what  place  his  ancestor  died.  It  was  at 
that  time  supposed  by  the  family, — the  monument 
at  Hartford  not  having  been  discovered  then 
— that  he  was  buried  somewhere  on  Gardi 
ner's  Island.  The  present  Mr.  Gardiner,  in  a  let 
ter  to  Mr.  Barber,  says  : — "We  have  an  old  Bible 
in  the  house,  which  belonged  to  Lyon  Gardiner, 
upon  a  blank  leaf  of  which  the  following  is  writ 
ten  :-- 

"In  the  year  of  our  Lord  1635,  the  10th  day  of 
July,  came  I,  Lyon  Gardiner  and  Mary  my  wife, 
from  Worden,  a  town  in  Holland,  where  my  wife 
was  born,  being  the  daughter  of  one  Diricke 
Willemson  Deureant ; — her  mother's  name  was 
Hachin,  and  her  aunt,  sister  of  her  mother,  was 
the  wife  of  Wouter  Leanerdson,  an  old  burgomas 
ter,  dwelling  in  the  hostrade,  over  against  the 
Bruxer,  in  the  Unicorn's  head ;  her  brother's  name 
was  Punce  Garretson,  also  an  old  burgomaster. 
We  came  from  Worden  to  London,  and  from 
thence  to  New-England,  and  dwelt  at  Saybrook 
fort  four  years, — it  is  at  the  mouth  of  Connecticut 


APPENDIX.  209 

river, — of  which  I  was  commander, — and  there 
was  born  unto  me  a  son,  named  David,  1635,  the 
29th  of  April,  the  first-born  in  that  place,  and  1638 
a  daughter  was  born,  named  Mary,  30th  of  Aug 
ust  ; — and  then  I  went  to  an  island  of  my  own, 
which  I  had  bought  and  purchased  of  the  Indians, 
called  by  them  Monchonack,  by  us  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  and  there  was  born  another  daughter, 
named  Elizabeth,  the  14th  of  September,  1641, — 
she  being  the  first  child  of  English  parents  born 
there. !" 


' 


/"  "V 


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